


I Love You a Latte (One Day I'm Going to Hurt You)

by AnAddictionToCinnamonBuns



Category: EXO (Band), Produce 101 (TV), UP10TION, VICTON (Band), X1 (Korea Band), 소녀시대 | Girls' Generation | SNSD
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Character Death, Drama, F/M, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I don't like spoiling the story in tags so that's all you get, I will actually attempt to finish it now xd, Love, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Protective Siblings, Remake of My Past Story, Revenge, Romance, some graphic scenes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-08-23 10:37:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20241475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnAddictionToCinnamonBuns/pseuds/AnAddictionToCinnamonBuns
Summary: Losing both his parents, Wooseok is forced to take ownership of their coffee shop while caring for his 5 younger brothers, a heartwarming story of 6 siblings supporting each other to the end.ORAn intense revenge story where the eldest brother of 6 plots vengeance against his parent's killers..... in the comforting confines of his parents coffee shop.And in the mess of it all, he still manages to fall in love.....(Chapters 1-2 are teasers, Chapter 3 is the start of the story! Check it out!)





	1. Chapter 1

**"UMMA! APPA!" A little boy lay helplessly on the ground as his arm desperately reached out for his parents as if he would be able to pull them back to him. **

**"WOOSEOK! IT'S OKAY!" **

**BANG!**

**Wooseok was finally able to get off the ground and ran to his father. Tears rolling down his face as he tried to shake him back to life. "You won't get away with this!" He ran to the group of men who were now trying to shove his mother into the van. **

**"Let her go!" The men laughed watching the child's attempts by tugging on his mother's leg and kicking at theirs. **

**"Foolish kid, this should take care of you." The blunt side of a gun was smashed against the corner of Wooseok's head, sending him sprawling across the ground. One of them kicked the side of his limp body for good measure before they got the mother into the car and drove away. **

**"Umma......" Wooseok reached out to the car racing away with his arm but he felt his mind going numb. The last thing he saw was his younger brothers still scared and huddled at the doorway before he blacked out.......................**

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Wooseok shot out of bed with tears running down his face, he squinted at his clock

_ **2:30 am** _

Wooseok rubbed his eyes as he walked to the bathroom. 

Just another bad dream he thought to himself. 

He washed his eyes for a good minute until he felt another presence in the bathroom, he turned his head to see his youngest brother standing in the doorway, clutching his blanket. 

"Is Hyung okay?" Hyeongjun's eyes glistened with tears, saddened at the sight of his crying brother.

Wooseok offered him a small smile, "Yes Junnie, I'm okay".

Hyeongjun pouted and shook his head in disbelief. He ditched his blanket and ran up to Wooseok, wrapping his arms around Wooseok's leg in an attempt to comfort him. Wooseok laughed lightly and held him up. "But hyung was sad.."

Wooseok diverted the topic, "Hyeongjun what did I say about getting up?" Hyeongjun frowned.

"You said no waking up early but I can't help it." Hyeongjun raised his arms in exasperation, Wooseok cringed slightly, he was gaining influence from Minhee. 

"It's okay, here, you can sleep with me." Wooseok walked back to bed with Hyeongjun in his arms. Smiling as Hyeongjun snuggled into his chest when he laid down. 

"I'll scare your bad dreams away hyung," Hyeongjun mumbled as he eventually dozed off. Wooseok's eyes eventually started to lid as well, he had to open up the cafe in a few hours so he needed every minute of rest he could get...........................

**************

Hello everyone!

Hopefully, you enjoyed that teaser, it's a nice glimpse on the contrasting fluff/drama elements of the story.

If you feel like you saw this story two years ago, you are correct. 

I wrote the story with the Wanna One cast but a lot of problems led me to stop writing the story, this included an incredibly messy layout of the plot that made it hard to focus on writing story. 

After two years I shall be tackling this story again, and I think with the new X1/Produce members, I have a solid enough grasp on the plot to try writing the story. 

About the first 10 chapters of the story were written so they will essentially be reposts. However, with the changed characters there have been slight shifts in hobbies/ personalities that I think will help fledge them out even more.

My story was incredibly messy last time too with all these hiatus notices and bs so I'll make sure I won't do that again. 

I'll repost the teasers over the next week or two just to give me some extra time to develop the plot and characters to make sure I'll get somewhere xD

Please support me well! It was really difficult for me to write this story before so I hope it doesn't happen again.

I will see you guys later <3

P.S: Any characters requests? Let me know :)


	2. Teaser 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second teaser xD

_ **The most painful goodbyes are the ones never said and never explained.....** _

"Tell me Wooseokkie..... what's wrong?"

"There's no point in living anymore! *_sniff_ * When y-you lose the ones you c-care about the most!"

_ **Sadness is like a storm, the warm tears trickle down like teardrops, and sobs are drowned out like thunder.** _

It's just a s-short downpour."

"That will come and go, like your tears... they'll disappear." *** pressed a gentle kiss to one of his tears, retreating quickly in embarrassment. 

_ **As soon as there is life, there is danger...** _

"You-!" * flinched when a gun was drawn out.

"You wouldn't dar-" BANG!!!

_ **But the most dangerous and powerful thing is love...** _

"I love you Wooseok."

_ **It is impossible to protect innocence in this world....** _

"Hyung, why are you crying?"

"T-the world is a c-cruel place that b-betrays t-the innocent and praises the evil..."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll f-fully understand it one day, j-just remember, hyung t-tried his b-best sniff to p-protect you f-from it." 

_ **But take it one step at a time.** _

BRRRINGGGGGGG

The alarm clock was hastily pushed off, emitting a disturbing cracking sound. 

"Hyung!" Wooseok felt a heavy weight land on his chest. He laughed as the oxygen escaped his lungs.

Typical Mornings.

_ **Created through the labouring tasks of one's hardships** _

"Seungyoun hyung! Your boyfriend's here!" 

"He's not my boyfriend, shut up!" Yohan smirked at him and turned back around.

"Hi, Seungyoun's boyfriend! Shall I take your order or do you want to see him instead?"

"uhhhhhh."

"Good enough of an answer. Here you go!" Yohan dragged Seungyoun out from under the counter and practically threw him at the other boy.

_ **With its ability to brighten someone's day, warm someone's heart, and..... bring two people together?** _

Everyone watched in horror as if time slowed by over 9000, as the cup of coffee spiralled through the air and met its target upon landing.

"I'M SO SORRY!"

"Should I call the hospital or...."

"it's fine" He seems too lovestruck to care anyways.

_ **A hot, steaming cup of coffee.** _

"But hyung~~~~"

"No, coffee is only for adults, hyung will get you a nice cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream, isn't that your favourite?"

"Will you get it shaped like a wabbit too?'

"I promise."

"Then let's go!"

_ **A cup of hot chocolate works too.** _

_ **But everything starts with family** _

"Aww, it's okay Eunsang." Tiffany turned around and rubbed comforting circles over her son's back.

_ **This 2019, follow the rise of a loving family** _

Wooseok gently pulled Eunsang onto his back and carried Minhee to get them changed and ready for bed well.

_ **And their fateful encounter with tragedy** _

"No! Umma and Wooseok Hyung are missing! Why should I calm down!"

_ **08.27.2019** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to give you the taste of fluff and drama/angst in this story xD. 
> 
> Scenes mentioned in this teaser are possible to change as I have been working to revise the first 5 chapters xd. I think I'm going to make a big move too and change around some of the ages that were planned before. This is definitely causing me to have to fix some things I didn't plan on changing lol. 
> 
> If it wasn't obvious from the tags, Wooseok's 5 brothers will be
> 
> \- Cho Seungyoun  
\- Kim Yohan  
\- Lee Eunsang  
\- Kang Minhee  
\- Song Hyeongjun 
> 
> But of course, since they're all family they will all have the same last name: Hwang.  
One of them is on the verge of getting changed though I swear xD,
> 
> And I am working hard to smooth out this dang tangled plot ;p
> 
> Please give your author some love and I'll see you all in a week <3
> 
> Comments, Suggestions, Predictions/Theories? Don't hesitate to voice your opinion down below~


	3. Prologue Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the story begins~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm one day earlier than I thought I said I was going to be xD 
> 
> Enjoy the real story~~
> 
> And btw here are the ages. 
> 
> Wooseok - 11  
Seungyoun - 9  
Yohan - 8  
Eunsang - 6  
Minhee - 5  
Hyeongjun - 1

A gentle breeze blows through the earth, rustling leaves and causing dandelion fluff to drift through an open window of a car and into the unsuspecting face of -

"Achoo!" A woman sneezed into her arm.

"Bless you, honey." Mr.Hwang glanced at his wife in the passenger seat and burst into laughter.

"Keep your eyes on the road Nichkhun!" Tiffany pouted, grabbing a tissue to wipe the snot smeared across her cheek.

"Calm down, the building is right here." Nichkhun stopped the car in front of the empty building. Tiffany got out of the car and opened the side of the car door.

"We're here guys!......... Oh." Her enthusiasm was shattered by the light sound of snores coming from all of her sons, except for Hyeongjun who silently looked at his mom with wide eyes. Cradling the 1-year-old in one of her arms, she nudged each of her sons lightly. The only one to make a fuss was Minhee, starting to cry as he made grabby hands at his father. He picked Minhee up and held him to his chest. The couple watched their eldest son Wooseok diligently help his other 3 brothers get out of the car

"Wow, such a responsible big brother!" Tiffany ruffled Wooseok's hair proudly and placed a kiss on his head. Wooseok happily took the chocolate on his head and popped it into his mouth.

"Thanks, Umma, why are we here?" Wooseok peered into the window of the empty building, barren and lacking anything to indicate a reason to visit.

"This is going to be our new cafe!" Tiffany spread her arms out towards the building and did jazz hands in an attempt to hype it up.

"Cafe?" Yohan drowsily asked while he tried rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. He wrapped himself around Wooseok's arm as he looked into the empty building too.

Seungyoun walked up behind them and responded. "It's where people get... drinks and food?"

"You're right Seungyoun! Mostly hot drinks like coffee and tea but you'll see later on. Now let's take a look inside." Tiffany herded her children inside the building.

"But it's empty." Yohan blatantly stated the obvious as he let Wooseok pull him inside, still trying to recover from sleep.

"Decorate?" Minhee had stopped crying and was observing the interior as well.

"Yes, we still need to decorate it."

"Can we put a giant teddy bear in the corner?" The question from Eunsang aroused discussion from the other brothers, more or less arguing what animal it should be.

"It should be a giant duck!" Yohan interjected.

Eunsang huffed and crossed his arms, "Bear!" 

"Duck!"

"Bea-!" Seungyoun stood in between Yohan and Eunsang before they started hitting each other.

"Calm down! We all know a giant chestnut is the best!"

"That's not even an animal!"

"Let's discuss that later, don't you guys want to see our new house?" Nichkhun was standing at a doorway by the back of the building.

"What was wrong with our old house?" Yohan asked.

"Nothing was wrong with it Yohan," Tiffany patted Yohan's head and walked towards a staircase, "We just needed a change. Change in life is good......." His mothers' voice droned off as she ascended the steps and disappeared through a doorway.

"Wooseokkie hyung, can I have a piggyback up the stairs?" Seungyoun looked at his brother with puppy eyes.

"I want one!" Eunsang declared.

"I'm already holding onto him!" Yohan protested.

"I asked him! So get off of him!" Seungyoun was about to yank Yohan off but Wooseok stopped him.

"Relax, I can carry all of you."

"Really?" Seungyoun gave him a look of disbelief, suspicion evident on his face.

"You won't know if you don't get on."

"Me first!" Seungyoun mounted Wooseok's back, Eunsang climbed on after and wrapped his arms around Seungyoun's neck.

"Whatever, Hyung's arm is comfier than his back anyways." Yohan rolled his eyes as the quartet trudged to the staircase. Nichkhun laughed at how cute they looked scrunched together. Minhee tugged at his arm.

"Ahh Minhee, I think your Hyung is holding enough brothers, we don't want to give him a bad back already like me! Let's go upstairs." They went up to the staircase and opened the door at the top. Tiffany was setting Hyeongjun down to sleep on a couch in the presumed living room, other than that it was-

"It's empty!?!?" Minhee dramatically raised his arms and sighed.

"Does that mean we all have to sleep on the floor appa?" Eunsang looked disheartened by the idea of never being able to rest his body on top of another mattress ever again.

"If that's the case then I want to sleep in the spot in that corner!" Seungyoun unmounted Wooseok and ran over to the upper left corner of the room.

"No fair, I want that corner!" Yohan ran over to the corner as well. 

"I'm older so I get it!" Yohan turned red at the comment, putting himself in a fighting stance. 

"Yohan, remember what I said, you can't use taekwondo on your brothers. We don't want to break Seungyoun's nose again do we?" Yohan frowned and lowered his arms at his dad's command. 

"Don't worry guys, you'll all have beds, and rooms too. We still need to bring our things from our old house." Nichkhun gestured to a hallway with several doors. They were about to check out the rooms before a foreign voice bellowed throughout the building.

"Hello?" A man's voice bounced off the empty walls.

"Who is that?" The Hwangs all shared a look of confusion.

"It's a monster coming to eat you!" Seungyoun made a hideous face and ran to his parents, pretending to eat their legs.

Tiffany giggled, "Very funny Seungyoun... I'll go check first." Their mom walked downstairs.

"AHHHH!" The high pitched scream worried them all. They ran downstairs to see a middle-aged man hunched over Tiffany on the ground. The alarmingly close distance between the two caused an uncomfortable Nichkhun to step closer just to intimidate the man to step back.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. The man looked at Tiffany with worry etched across his face.

"It's fine, I didn't expect you to be standing right outside here." Tiffany got up and scratched the back of her head. "Anyways my name is Hwang Tiffany, this is my husband Nichkhun, and my sons Wooseok, Seungyoun, Yohan, Minhee and........ where are the other two?"

"Hyeongjun's sleeping and Eunsang ran back upstairs."

"Ahh sorry my youngest son Hyeongjun is sleeping, and Eunsang isn't fond of meeting new people." The man nodded in understanding.

"You have so many sons! I wish I could have that many children." The man frowned. " My name is Kim Baekhyun and I just happened to notice your van parked outside this building, it's been empty for a couple of weeks so I was curious about who was buying it."

"Oh, do you live near here?" Baekhyun nodded.

"I do, I own a cafe a couple of blocks down." Tiffany smiled at the fact.

"Really? We're going to open one up too!" Baekhyun's eyebrows perked up.

"That's great! My cafe's always overflowed with customers every day so it'll be nice to get rid of a few!" Baekhyun grabbed Tiffany's hand and smiled at her. " And I'll get used to seeing this beautiful face around more often."

"Uh, I-"

"What are you doing here!!" Everyone turned to the door to see a rather angry middle-aged woman glaring at Baekhyun. Her face turned red when she noticed several people looking at her and bowed down slightly.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, my name's Taeyeon and my husband has an odd habit of disappearing when I need him, it leaves me frazzled more times than I'd like to count." Baekhyun walked over to his wife and grinned.

"These are the Hwangs honey, and they'll be opening a cafe too!" Wooseok didn't know if he was the only one that noticed, but he saw a flicker of anger flash in the woman's eyes before it turned back to being cheerful.

"Oh wow! A cafe too? Sounds great but we have to go, honey, the customers are out the door again." Taeyeon aggressively gripped onto Baekhyun's ear and dragged him out the door, leaving the confused Hwang's to look at each other.

"Aren't they an interesting duo?" 

"Must be her time of the month." Tiffany slapped her husband's arm. " Don't say that!"

"What time of the month?"

"Yeah, what is that?"

"Do I get a time of the month too?" Tiffany glared at Nichkhun, giving him a "you started their endless train of curiosity again" look.

"WAHHHHHH" A crying sound came from upstairs. 

"That must be Hyeongjun," Tiffany cooed, "Let's see what happened." The whole family went upstairs

Eunsang was standing at the couch trying to pick up Hyeongjun to take him downstairs. The struggle was evident on his face as he puffed he cheeks out. 

"Eunsang what happened?" Nichkhun asked.

"I think he's hungry." 

"Hyeongjun's hungry already?" Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows. "Didn't we eat an hour ago?"

Nichkhun tried to reason with her, "Well, he's a growing boy-"

Grrrrrrrrr

Eunsang turned red at the loud sound of his stomach growling.

"Wait, when was the last time we ate?" Their parents looked at each other puzzled, swearing that they just ate recently.

"Actually, all we had was breakfast." Wooseok clarified for them.

Tiffany gasped, "Oh my god, Wooseok's right! We forgot to feed them! Isn't it 4 already?"

"Haha, don't worry, I heard there was a really good fried chicken place just around the corner."

"FRIED CHICKEN!!!!" All the kids yelled in unison, making Nichkhun laugh.

"Calm down guys, I'll go grab the car keys and we'll be on our way.

"YAYYYY!!!!"

A month later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is an important day for the Hwangs, as they tidy up the cafe for its opening in a few minutes.

"Can I put the sign-out Umma?"

"Yeah you can sweetie, here's the sign." Tiffany placed the now open sign in Minhee's hands and turned back around to her mic stand. Adjusting it perfectly to match with her stool, she took a step back and smiled at her finished product, Nichkhun snuck up behind her and snaked his arms around her waist.

"Ahh good old times, just like the first time we met isn't it?" The couple paused for a minute and thought about the first time they met. Tiffany was working as a singer in a cafe, singing with her guitar when a rather glum Nichkhun walked in that day, she looked up to meet his wandering eyes and it became the start of a classic tale of love at first sight.

"Eww, Umma and Appa are being gross again!" Yohan stuck his tongue out and scrunched up his face.

"They're only hugging, Yohan." Wooseok tried reassuring him. Yohan shivered at the thought of being hugged like that. 

"It's still gross!" Nichkhun turned around to Yohan.

"Hey Yohan, can you get Eunsang to come down. He has to get used to the workers." Nichkhun frowned thinking of the events 30 minutes ago.

_ **"Tag you're it!" Eunsang giggled as he ran away from Yohan, who was chasing after him around all the tables, he didn't notice the stranger walking into the cafe and crashed into them.** _

_ _

_ **Oof!** _

_ _

_ **Eunsang fell on his butt with a thud. He looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of someone unfamiliar, glancing over him with a look of concern.** _

_ _

_ **"Are you o-"** _

_ _

_**"AHH!"** _And there went Eunsang, screaming and running up the stairs. It took Nichkhun a good 5 minutes to assure Eunbin that she didn't do anything wrong. He warned the other workers to be cautious when dealing with Eunsang, so they made sure to at least offer the child a warm smile after he was finally dragged downstairs by Yohan.

DING!

Everyone's attention was alerted to the front door, a man who seemed to be a foreigner timidly poked his head through the door.

"Hello! Don't be shy! We just opened!" Nichkhun gestured for them to come in.

"Welcome to Ma...Ma..." Seungyoun stammered.

"Matcha." 

"Matcha Mocha!" Seungyoun stomped his foot at frustration in the poor execution of his perfectly practiced lines.

"Aww such a cute kid!" A Japanese accent accentuated the customer's words as he knelt to be levelled with Seungyoun. "Since you seem to be in charge, what do you recommend that I order?"

"Try our specialty, the Matcha Mocha, with its wonderful blend of espresso, hot chocolate, and matcha. It's 100% guaranteed to keep you coming back for more!" Seungyoun did a small fist pump for delivering his lines without an error.

"You must be a smart little kid to have such a wide vocabulary!" The customer beamed at Seungyoun.

"He wouldn't stop practicing that same thing over and over again." Yohan snickered at Seungyoun's scandalized face.

"Nevertheless, I'll take one Matcha Mocha." The customer happily said to the cashier. The customer eyed the microphone stand as he sat down with his mocha. "Can you play a song for me?"

"Sure what song would you like?"

"Any song works." The customer smiled warmly.

"Umma, can I play the guitar?" Eunsang was looking up at Tiffany with hopeful eyes, arms gripping the music stand tightly. Tiffany quirked an eyebrow at her son, his request came as a shock to her, considering his lack of social skills let alone his ability to handle performing for a stranger.

Eunsang flipped through the papers on Tiffany's music stand, looking for a particular song. "Can I play this?" Eunsang showed his mom the song he wanted to play.

"Sure, go ahead Eunsang and I'll sing for you." Tiffany placed the music on the stand and helped Eunsang settle the large instrument in his lap. 

With a nod from his mother, Eunsang bit his lip and struck a chord. After a couple of basic chords as an introduction, Tiffany began to sing.

_ **Dreams that I can never have again** _

_ **That was really sweet** _

_ **I think you are just like the dream** _

_ **Dream that I get to keep thinking** _

_ **about all day - that was really sweet** _

_ **That's you-** _

_ _

Eunsang yelped as he struck the wrong strings, causing a rather unpleasant discord to ring through the air. He stopped playing and lowered his head in shame.

"Aww, it's okay Eunnie." Tiffany turned around and rubbed comforting circles over her son's back.

"He always screws up that section." Seungyoun's comment was quickly drowned out by the customer's clapping.

"Amazing! It's fine. Everyone makes mistakes and your son showed some great potential for the future. Although I would love to hear another performance, I have to go." Eunsang turned bright red at the compliment. "By the way, this mocha is delicious!" The Japanese man called out as he left the store.

"Wasn't that a great way to start our opening?"

"It was, you played beautifully Eunsang." Nichkhun patted his son's back.

"But I messed up....."

"But your strumming was great nonetheless, the customer loved it." Hushed whispers came from the workers behind the counter. Nichkhun looked at them with a quirk of his eyebrow. "Did something happen?"

"YES!" Sekwon slapped a hand over Yoonah's mouth and rolled his eyes. She gave him a fierce side glance before pushing his hand away.

"THAT WAS TAKADA KENTA OMG!" Yoonah was fangirling hard.

"Calm yourself, Jesus Christ!"

"Shut up Sekwon, but anyways, Kenta is so hoooooot and he was famous for something but I can't remember what it was." Sekwon rolled his eyes at her.

"Pfft, what a fake fan." Yoonah smacked Sekwon's shoulder.

"You don't even know him Sekwon!"

"That sounds cool! Maybe he's a j-pop idol?" Tiffany clasped her hands together in excitement.

"Let's check online later honey."

DING!

And just like that, another customer slowly walked in, unaccustomed to the building and name.

"Welcome to Matcha Mochi!"

"It's Mocha, Seungyoun." Seungyoun groaned and stomped his foot again.

And that's just how the day went. A customer walked in every few minutes, listening to Seungyoun's greeting that had a 79.65% perfection rate (He forced Wooseok to keep track of his stats). Usually grabbing the recommended Matcha Mocha (can't say no to a kid) listened to Tiffany singing and playing the guitar (Eunsang got too nervous after his mistake) and left.

Some of the customers lingered for a few extra minutes and interacted with the Hwangs, mostly trying to talk to the kids, a few of them attempted to interact with Eunsang, who stared back at them with fearful eyes. Wooseok ended up staying beside Eunsang to ease the anxiety of being around people.

Baekhyun showed up a few hours later, a couple of customers were sitting at tables and sipping their drinks.

"Hi,hi,hi,hi,hi." Baekhyun went around and greeted everyone.

"And hello to you lovely Tiffany." Baekhyun grabbed Tiffany's hand and gently kissed it.

"Erm Hi Baekhyun."

"BAEKHYUN!" Taeyeon was already storming in 20 seconds after Baekhyun entered. "Hi, Tiffany!" She flashed a gummy smile towards the other. "Sorry to leave so quick but Baekhyun keeps forgetting about all our duties at the cafe."And with that, she was fiercely pulling his ear out of the café.

"They really are something," Tiffany muttered to herself as she adjusted her music stand.

"That man acts weird umma!" Tiffany shook her head.

"It's not nice to call people that Minhee, I'm sure he's just friendly."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minhee brought the "now open" sign back inside as they closed up the café for the day.

"Do you think 6 pm is too early to close?"

"Well, we only started today so we can extend it if we get more customers." Nichkhun waved farewell to their cafe workers and led the whole family upstairs.

*^*Later that night*^*

"Honey look!" Nichkhun called to his wife as she was washing the dishes. Their kids who were watching TV were also curious and gathered around him.

"Remember that Japanese customer?"

"Kenta something right?"

"Yeah, anyways look!" Nichkhun gestured to his laptop screen. There was a selfie of the said person on the screen, smiling brightly while holding his Matcha Mocha up, Nichkhun scrolled down to show his blog.

_ **Hello, Taka's!** _

_ _

_ **Sorry I haven't posted in the last two weeks TT I've been enjoying my stay in my favourite country, South Korea!** _

_ **I was going to visit the popular Kim Cafe again in Busan today but a new café called Matcha Mocha had just opened so I decided to give it a try instead.** _

_ **The place was very cozy and who I assume are the owners were very nice and welcoming! They also have the cutest children ever and one son can play the guitar really well!** _

_ **On recommendation, I decided to try the café's specialty, the matcha mocha, and it was delicious! I highly suggest visiting this place and stay tuned next week for my visit to Paris!** _

_ _

_ ** Takada Kenta <3** _

"OH MY GOD!" The kids were all startled by their mom's shouts. They were concentrating hard on the writing and trying to understand what it was saying.

"I can't believe our first customer was some famous food blogger."

"Do you think it'll draw people to our café?"

"Hopefully a few, I don't think my heart would be able to take any more than that."

"What does it say Appa?" Minhee gave up trying to read it.

"It says that our café was very good."

"Must be my great speaking skills!" Seungyoun proudly gave himself a pat on the back.

"Whatever you say." Yohan rolled his eyes.

"It's late kids, let's get ready for bed." Seungyoun groaned at his father.

"But it's only 9 'o clock!" Seungyoun protested.

"Speak for yourself." Nichkhun motioned towards Seungyoun's brothers. Minhee and Eunsang managed to slump asleep on the floor, Yohan let out a loud yawn and Hyeongjun's soft snores could be heard from the baby monitor. The only one who seemed mildly awake was Wooseok.

'' Fine," Seungyoun grumbled and dragged Yohan to the bathroom to brush their teeth. Wooseok gently pulled Eunsang onto his back and carried Minhee to get them changed and ready for bed as well. After 10 minutes Nichkun got up too.

"Shouldn't we go to bed too honey?"

"I guess we should Nickhun, go ahead, I'll just finish the dishes."

"Make it quick honey....."

```````````````````````````````````````````

Thankfully for Tiffany's heart, there weren't many customers the next day, but the amount gradually increased throughout the week into the next. And then.

Next Monday came.

"I don't think my heart can take this!" Tiffany clutched her chest and took a step back as she could see a crowd standing outside of the cafe before it was supposed to open in 20 minutes.

"Mrs.Hwang, I don't know if we can handle this either." One of the workers, Jaehoon gestured to their group of 4 eyeing the people outside.

"I'll get Nichkhun to help today, I'm sure Wooseok can handle watching his brothers." So Tiffany quickly ran back upstairs where her husband and their 6 sons were eating breakfast.

"There's a crowd outside! You have to help, Nichkhun!"

"Are they attacking us Umma? I need taekwondo practice" Yohan made a stab in the air with his spoon. Cereal flew from the spoon onto Seungyoun's sandwich, causing a string of complaints to come from him. 

"No they're not Yohannie, they all want to buy from us."

"Who's going to watch the kids then honey?"

"I'm sure Wooseok is capable of watching over his little brothers? Right Seokkie?'' Tiffany ruffled her son's hair and cleared some things off the counter.

"If your brothers want to go downstairs, make sure you take all of them down and keep them insight." Nichkhun quickly followed his wife down the stairs and out of their view.

` ` ` 30 minutes later ` ` `

"Hyung I'm bored!" Yohan whined from his spot on Wooseok's shoulder, all of his brothers were wrapped around Wooseok in one way or another while they watched TV.

"Can we go downstairs now?" Seungyoun sighed and sunk further into the couch.

"Okay but only for a minute." Wooseok carried Hyeongjun and they all followed him down the staircase, they peeked through the little crack in the doorway to see a lot of people in the cafe.

"I see a lot of people!" Minhee gasped.

"W-we d-don't have to go out r-right?" Eunsang's voice shuddered at the thought of dealing with so many people.

"It's fine Eunsang, let's go back upstairs guys." Ignoring Yohan and Seungyoun's whines, they all went back upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Please take one of our flyers and share it with your family and friends." A group of girls happily took the flyers from the worker's hands and left the cafe.

"Kenta wasn't kidding! This Matcha Mocha is delicious!"

"That guitar player sang so well!"

"We totally should come back tomorrow!"

"I want to see their kids just like Kenta said!"

"Maybe they got shy of, maybe we'll see them tomorrow."

The group of girls continued in their bubble of happy chatter as they walked. They stopped and glanced at someone who was staring angrily at the cafe, crumpling a piece of paper in their hands.

"Geez, what's their problem?"

"Maybe they hate waiting in line."

"Whatever, just leave them."

When the group was out of earshot, the person teared up the promotional flier of the Matcha Mocha that was in their hand.

**"They're not getting away with this**." They ripped the paper in half, tossed it onto the cement, and stomped on it as they walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooooo I hope you liked it xD. 
> 
> I thought I was going to do a regular weekly schedule, but considering how busy I was this week without school and how much I was able to do on the story. I don't think I can do a regular schedule going into September. Of course, I will always aim for weekly, but just know life doesn't like me sometimes ;p
> 
> I've been trying my best to fix up the following chapters, but please if you notice that I accidentally wrote the wrong name or something like that please tell me.
> 
> Don't hesitate to leave a comment or kudos, it motivates me xd


	4. Prologue Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everything goes smoothly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short I think xD
> 
> Also, trigger warning for something that I won't say for spoiler's sake.

In spite of the cafe's sudden rise in popularity, Tiffany and Nichkhun decided against extending their original hours. It would be a hindrance to their relationship with their children since they wouldn't be able to properly go out and spend time as a family. The customers can wait anyways, money wasn't a big deal to them. It also never occurred to Tiffany that she never wrote the open times for the cafe. After telling hundreds of customers over the last 2 months that they were closed, she finally noticed the lack of a sign outside. 

"Umma what are you writing?" Minhee plopped his head onto the corner of the chalkboard sign his mom was writing on. She hummed at his question and reached for a chalkboard eraser to remove a mistake. The dust sent Minhee into a coughing frenzy , Tiffany laughed and patted his back. Today was Saturday where they closed the cafe early so she took the free time to finally write out the open times of the cafe.

"Sorry Minhee, this is just the hours for the cafe." Minhee looked confused, it was hard for him to understand many of these terms at times. 

"Hours?"

"How long we'll leave it open for people to come in." Tiffany took a step back and admired the sign. The edges of the chalkboard were sketched with an elegant border complete with calligraphy. She gave herself a nod of satisfaction and brought the sign outside. She laughed as a warm summer breeze tickled her nose. 

**Monday - Friday : 8am - 7pm**

**Saturday : 8am - 1pm**

**Sunday and Holidays : Closed**

"Don't you want to leave the cafe open longer to accommodate all your customers?" Tiffany spun around to see Baekhyun walking up to her.

"I care more about the boys then how much money I can make in a day." Tiffany could never imagine a life where she would sacrifice her children's well being for the sake of an extra dollar. 

"But then I also won't be able to see your face so much." Baekhyun pouted at the idea.

"You can always knock on the door, I don't mind you visiting." Tiffany said in an attempt to comfort him. It seemed to work as the pout dissipated from Baekhyun's face. He smiled. 

"So admirable, if only my wife had the same mindset as you. You'd make a better wife for me." Baekhyun took a couple of steps and whispered in Tiffany's ear. "You like that idea don't you?" Tiffany was thrown off by the question, and looked at him blankly for seconds before a voice cut through the thick silence. 

"Can you stop running off while we're busy." Taeyeon was standing a good 5 meters away and tapping her foot impatiently. "Sorry Tiffany, but we have to go." Taeyeon grabbed Baekhyun's collar and stormed off with him. Tiffany laughed at how childish Baekhyun looked while being dragged and walked back into her cafe.

"Umma why does that weird man appear a lot?" Minhee looked back at the retreating couple disappearing in the distance.

Tiffany shook her head disapprovingly at Minhee, "What did we say about calling him that Minhee? He's just outgoing and wants to be friends with Umma." 

"Hmph." Minhee folded his arms in frustration and glared at the floor, his mom always said the same thing! Tiffany seemed to mistake his anger for hunger.

"Now let's go eat lunch, we haven't eaten yet." Tiffany held Minhee's hand and they walked up the stairs together.

~~~~~

It was nearing the end of August and that meant the beginning of fall was near. Which meant it was time to decorate the cafe with autumn decorations that Tiffany collected in various stores over the previous couple of weeks. Nichkhun had taken most of the boys out for grocery shopping before they would have to pick up Yohan from taekwondo lessons, even their 6 month old, Hyeongjun was taken out in spite of his constant napping. It was just her and Wooseok in the cafe. On top of that, it was a rare day where it wasn't busy during the Saturday morning so she decided to close the cafe at 11 and send her workers home early, promising their full pay nonetheless.

Tiffany was focussed on the little trees she planned on placing on every tabletop, she was delicately painting its frail green leaves into various fall colours. 

"How does this look umma?" Tiffany looked over to Wooseok who was cloaking the wall with fake autumn leaves. 

"That looks really nice Wooseokie." Tiffany placed a kiss onto Wooseok's head, he took the wrapper off the chocolate and put it into her mouth instead of his. 

"That was sweet." Tiffany smiled at her son, sticking her chocolate covered tongue at him. Wooseok laughed at how goofy she looked. 

"You always say it's bad to have sweets before a meal, and we haven't eaten lunch yet." Tiffany gasped. One of the things she hated doing as a parent was to set a bad example, and here she was, going against something she has taught the boys in the past. 

"You're right! Are you hungry? It's never too early or late to have a meal." Wooseok nodded at her.

"Sure we can eat, there's leftovers from last night, can you go heat those up? I really want to finish these little trees." 

"Okay umma." Tiffany turned back to her trees and hummed a nameless song after Wooseok's footsteps could be heard no more. She focussed on the noises Wooseok made in the background, from his footsteps to the sounds of the microwave beeping. 

"Lovely voice as always." She turned around quickly, Baekhyun was standing at the entrance.

"Thanks but the cafe's actually closed." Baekhyun shrugged. 

"But you left the door unlocked so I'll take it as my invitation to come in. And besides, you said that you don't mind me visiting." Baekhyun took gentle steps towards her. "Are you alone?" Tiffany let herself paint a few more leaves before replying.

"Well I said you have to knock on the door because I might be busy and I'm not alone, Wooseok is upstairs." 

"Shhhhh, it's okay to make excuses but I know you've been playing hard to get." Baekhyun placed a hand on Tiffany's shoulder roughly, causing her to widen her eyes and turn around to face him.

"H-hard to get?" Her lips trembled, this doesn't sound good. 

"Tsk tsk, see, you're even flustered by the thoughts of what I could do to you. Let's just cut to the chase shall we?" Tiffany shifted uncomfortably under the dark fire of Baekhyun's gaze. She shrugged his hand away and stood up. She gestured towards the door.

"Look, I have to go now and so should you-ngh!" 

"Stay right here **babe**." Baekhyun grabbed Tiffany's arm and pinned her against the wall and a smirk played on his lips. One of the leaves on the wall fell from the impact and fell to the floor. 

"Hey, get off of me!" Tiffany struggled to free herself but her arms were restrained and her legs were immobilized by his knees. 

"It's okay** babe,** it'll be over before you know it." A tear rolled down Tiffany's cheek as her yelps were quickly covered by Baekhyun's lips, one of his hands moved dangerously across her waistband when Wooseok came down to investigate the cause of the sudden crash.

"Umma are you okay, I heard a crash GET OFF OF HER!" Wooseok's worried question turned into an aggressive statement as he turned the corner and saw Baekhyun forcing himself onto his mother. He did the only logical thing, push the man away hard enough to give him enough space to place a kick where it really hurts. Baekhyun yelped loudly.

"Ow shit! You son of a bitch! This should stop you!" Baekhyun recovered instantly and shoved Wooseok to the ground and withdrew a gun from his back pocket. Pointing it towards Wooseok, Tiffany could only look helplessly, still traumitized.

"Now we can finish what we started** babe**." Baekhyun kept the gun pointed threateningly at Wooseok as he walked back to Tiffany. He wiped her tears away with a smirk. 

"Don't cry, don't you know how much I love you?" Baekhyun slipped a hand under her blouse.

"STOP!" Nichkhun sprinted through the cafe door and tackled Baekhyun before he could react. His gun flew from his hand and skid across the floor. After a short tussle on the floor, Nichkhun gained enough of an opening to elbow Baekhyun's shoulders and straddle him. 

"This one's for touching my wife!" A swift punch was smacked across Baekhyun's face. Baekhyun grunted at the force of the blow.

"And this one's for threatening my family!" Another blow caused drops of blood to splat on the floor.

"You ass!" Baekhyun held his bloody nose. "Your wife doesn't love you, she loves me!" Nichkhun gritted his teeth and punched him again.

"Now I want you to get out!" Nichkhun harshly pulled Baekhyun up and dragged him to the entrance. "I won't call the police this time but come in here one more time or anywhere near my family and I won't hesitate!"

Nichkhun shoved Baekhyun out of the cafe, turning away from his limping figure and running back to the van to retrieve his sons. Still confused to see their dad running out of the car and into the cafe so suddenly.

"Umma?" Minhee was the first one at the door and panicked seeing his mother on the floor in tears. "What's wrong Umma?" Minhee tried kissing one of her tears. "You say it's good to kiss the boo boos away right?" Minhee's lips started to tremble when his mom didn't start to calm down.

"Don't cry Umma.... it makes m-me s-sad." Tears rolled down Minhee's cheeks but he continued to try and kiss his mom's tears away.

"Is Umma okay?" The rest of the sons crowded around her worriedly, minus Hyeongjun who was held in one of Nichkhun's arms as he also surrounded his wife, wrapping his free arm around her to comfort her. Hyeongjun made a fuss to be put down so Nichkhun placed him on the floor. Hyeongjun crawled in front of Tiffany and looked up at her face with a confused face "Mama?"

"She just got scared." Nichkhun used the broad answer in place of exposing them to topics too easily able to ruin a child's innocence. 

"Of monsters in the dark? That's silly because monsters come out at night only and it's still bright outside." Seungyoun was old enough to sense that something was off with the answer his dad gave, so he tried lightening the mood.

"What if a real monster attacked her!!" Eunsang's eyes widened in worry.

Yohan flicked Eunsang's forehead at his comment, earning a yelp from the other, "Monsters aren't real." he deadpanned. Yohan threw a few punches in the air, "And if they did exist," he spun and kicked to the side, his yellow belt flying around him, "I could beat them up easily." Hyeongjun clapped with glee watching Yohan's act. 

"Well Eunsang is right, monsters are real, they come in all shapes and forms." Wooseok finally spoke up, in a monotonous form from his spot on the ground a few meters away. "And I couldn't protect Umma from one of them." Nichkhun walked over to his son.

"It's okay Seokkie, you tried your best." Nichkhun tried to place a comforting hand on Wooseok's back but it was pushed away.

"But I couldn't stop him..." Wooseok stood up and ran upstairs. Head hanging in shame.

"Is hyung okay?" Seungyoun wanted to tease Wooseok for looking so down but he felt that it wasn't a good idea. 

"Let's console him later, let's cheer Umma up for now." So they stayed with her until she begun to calm down.....

Wooseok lay motionless on the bed as he continued to hear the sobs and words of comfort from downstairs. All the possibilities of bad things that would've happened if his dad didn't show up still ran through Wooseok's mind.

A broken limb, a shattered skull, a heartbreaking funeral, an unwanted child, every possibility drew a tear out of Wooseok's eyes.

"Next time," Wooseok burrowed his face into his pillow when he began to hear footsteps, wanting to feign sleep in case someone would check on him, "next time I'll stop the monsters."

\-------------------------------------

She saw it coming.

She wasn't even surprised.

But she was clueless to the extents he would take.

Taeyeon was excited that morning, she ran downstairs looking for her husband as she gripped the positive pregnancy test in her hand. She frowned when she noticed him leaving, but it was too good of a moment to pass up so she quickly hailed a taxi to follow and surprise him. 

But Taeyeon was surprised to see Baekhyun enter Tiffany's cafe, she was too excited to think about running in and pulling him out again 

Maybe he just went for a quick visit, she crossed her fingers and hoped, but it wasn't meant to be.

Taeyeon couldn't believe it as she watched Baekhyun force himself onto Tiffany from across the street. She slammed a fist onto the taxi window and hung her head down. The slam was enough to wake up her sleeping taxi driver.

"Are you okay ma'am?" Taeyeon's knuckles turned white from tightening them so hard.

"What do you think!" Taeyeon angrily barked. The driver gulped, sinking into his chair at her sudden outburst.

"I don't know..."

"What a bitch! First she steals my business and then my husband!" The taxi driver turned to the cafe at her words, confused when he only saw a man limping away from it and one running in the opposite direction towards a van. "I don't see anything.." 

"Just drive back!" The driver was startled by the sudden order but followed it nonetheless.

"Here you go." Taeyeon threw the money at the driver, she also threw her pregnancy test at him. "Go tell your damn wife that you're pregnant."

"But I'm a guy!" Taeyeon rolled her eyes.

"I don't give a fuck! Just shove a pillow under your shirt!" Taeyeon stormed out of the taxi, she didn't need the customers to see her like this, she'll just go to the back and take her anger out on something else.

She sat down in her office and turned on her laptop. 

"I guess it's already useless to use these." Taeyeon furiously deleted many articles that she had posted against the Hwang's cafe to ruin their reputation. Ignoring all the defensive comments that she saw on the bottom of every article. 

"God damn, those articles were supposed to ruin them and turn Baekhyun away from her, but I guess more extreme measures need to be taken." She sighed as she flipped through a notebook on the side of her table when she heard a knock. She looked up at whom was at the door and smiled at her son.

"Junmyeonnie! Do you need anything?" Junmyeon was the only person she could never be disappointed with. He grew up to be the perfect son, to some, an awfully accurate representation to Taeyeon. To Taeyeon, she couldn't have asked for anyone better. Junmyeon pointed out the window and sighed.

"He's doing it again...." Taeyeon followed the direction of the point and tried to scan what was wrong with outside, her eye caught something and she frowned at what she was seeing. 

"Ugh, we have to go over this again?" She got out of her desk and walked outside towards the little boy who had his back turned to her. All she could hear was his playful banter with a cat that he was petting. 

"KIM JINHYUK!" Her son stood up instantly and faced her. The cat had ran away and he avoided her eyes. She noticed him hiding his arms behind his back and pulled them out in front.

"What did I say about feeding the pastries to the stray cats?" Jinhyuk bit his lip and lowered his head further.

"But the bakers said they were going to throw it out......" Taeyeon grabbed the pastries out of Jinhyuk's hands and threw them far off into the distance. 

"I don't care what they say! Don't waste it on stupid animals!" Taeyeon pinched one of her son's chubby cheeks hard. 

"And stop eating the pastries! What did I say about losing weight?" Jinhyuk sniffled.

"I have to be slim like Hyung...." A tear rolled down Jinhyuk's cheek.

"Yes, at least your brother looks appealing to the customers and listens to me! And he also doesn't cry like a wimp! Get your ass back inside." Taeyeon pulled Jonghyun inside by the arm, he kept his head down in shame even ignoring his brother sticking his tongue out at him when they passed. 

"Now here look, we got a new shipment in today, organize it in the back to cut some of those pounds off." She forced Jinhyuk's head up to meet her eyes. "And don't even think about getting anyone to help you or you're going to regret it!"

"Yes Umma....." Taeyeon left her son in the back and went to their house that was connected above the cafe. Maybe she just needed a good nap.

~~~~

Taeyeon awoke to the soft sounds of talking from far away. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Baekhyun standing at the doorway, he was crouched by Jinhyuk and talking him. She was about to confront him before she realized that she had to conceal her feelings. She couldn't let him realize what she was doing. 

"Where did you go Baekkie?" Her husband turned around at her and she faked a gasp at the bruises on his cheek and bandaged nose. "What happened!?!" She exclaimed as she reached out to his face. 

"Just fell a couple of stairs, it's a miracle I was in one piece." Baekhyun laughed at his own fault and scratched the back of his neck. Taeyeon tightened her lips into a straight line, attempting to surpress any sassy remark.

"Lia- I mean, didn't we talk about being less clumsy?" Baekhyun gave her an apologetic grin.

"Haha I'll work on it honey." Taeyeon frowned at Jinhyuk hiding behind and hugging Baekhyun's leg, he was always a daddy's boy. 

"Are you taking him somewhere?" Taeyeon suspiciously eyed the car keys in Baekhyun's hand. "Did he even finish the shipment?" 

"Yes the room was all organized when I arrived, but he's hungry so I'm taking him to a nearby fried chicken place that we've never visited before. He also seems exhausted, did you make him do the whole shipment himself?" 

Taeyeon ignored the question crossed her arms, "But what about him losing weight." 

"It's just a little treat tonight honey." Taeyeon sighed, she was going to lose this argument eventually so might as well forfeit now.

"If you say so.." 

"Have you seen Junmyeon anyways? I'll bring him too if he wants." Baekhyun scanned the room, trying to find any trace of his other son.

"He's probably helping in the cafe like a **good son**." Taeyeon could see Jinhyuk cower slightly at that statement. "But go ahead and take him if he wants, I'll stay back tonight I have to do a few things." 

"You're always busy honey, don't you want to take a break from the business for just a night?" 

"One night can be a waste of hundreds of dollars, just take the boys and head out by yourselves." Baekhyun looked down at Jinhyuk and shrugged jokingly. Jinhyuk didn't seem enlightened by the gesture. Baekhyun pretended like he didn't sense that Taeyeon was scaring him at the moment.

"Suit yourself, bye~~" Baekhyun called out as he walked down the staircase with Jinhyuk. Taeyeon pulled out her phone when she made sure they were both gone. 

"Good for nothing duo, at least I have time now to do this call." She tapped the corresponding numbers on her phone and held it up to her ear, waiting for someone to pick up. 

"Ahhh hello?................... I have a job I'd like you to do............. Oh don't worry, I'll pay handsomely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was kind of intense so I won't rant xD
> 
> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated~ Share some theories on the story with me if you have any!


	5. Prologue Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night is always an ominous time of day, where anything can happen..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay you all get a fun chapter to read before school starts for some of you, I know some of you have already started school so I hope you're enjoying it and yeah enjoy the chapter.
> 
> I just want to say, the last scene with Yohan is my favourite xD

Tiffany looked back at her son's sleeping in the backseat and smiled at them. The cafe was closed for the day and they had spent it in Lotte world. It was an enjoyable experience for the whole family and the boys' energy was well spent. 

"Nichkhun," Tiffany looked to her husband driving and then to the backseat, she smiled softly, "They're all asleep." Nichkhun kept his eyes fixated on the road, but returned her smile. 

"Today was a nice day wasn't it honey." Tiffany hummed in agreement. 

"I wish we can do another day soon but half of them are going back to school soon." Tiffany rolled down the window and let the faint trickles of a dying summer breeze tickle her skin.

"Yohan already has more taekwondo competitions coming up and Tiffany." 

"Yeah?" 

"Eunsang has shown more interest in that guitar hasn't he?" It wasn't a secret that Eunsang was slowly starting to love playing the guitar, but while he could manage using Tiffany's guitar, it was still too large for him to handle properly. 

"His birthday is coming up in a few weeks, maybe we should get him a more sizable guitar." The car came to a halt at a traffic light, Nichkhun made eye contact with his wife and smiled. 

"I think he would love that." 

"Do you think the other boys are garnering interest in anything?" Tiffany shook her head. 

"I don't think I've noticed them enjoy any activity in particular but," Tiffany placed a hand on Nichkhun's thigh, "Whatever they grow to love, let's make sure we stand by their decisions and desires okay?" 

"Of course I will Tiffany, and time already feels like it's going so fast. It only seems like Hyeongjun was born yesterday." Tiffany nodded and sadly looked to her sleeping children. 

"It's going to suck if they all leave us in the future, I've gotten so used to living with so many children I don't think I could handle it just being the two of us again." Nichkhun pouted. 

"What if it was the opposite, and we left the boys?" Tiffany gawked and smacked Nichkhun's shoulder.

"Are you out of your mind? Hey, I'm going to hit you again if you don't wipe that grin off your face." Nichkhun let out a childish giggle. 

"Not my fault, make sure you don't watch a sad movie with me again." Tiffany rolled her eyes but still smiled. 

"Duly noted."

The ride back was supposed to be 2 hours, but the unexpected construction and traffic caused the van to arrive at their cafe around midnight.

"They're still knocked out cold Nichkhun." Tiffany picked up a normally light sleeper Hyeongjun but even he was snoring lightly in spite of her touch. 

"Not me." Wooseok's voice groggily came from the backseat, he got up instantaneously and loaded Eunsang and Minhee in his arms. 

"You're always ready to help." Tiffany placed a kiss on Wooseok's head, he tucked the chocolate into his pocket. 

"Thanks, Umma, I'll eat it tomorrow." Wooseok carried his brothers up the stairs, Nichkhun was behind him carrying Yohan. Seungyoun was awake enough to support himself the handrail going up the stairs.

Wooseok assisted all of his brothers to get ready for bed, it was amusing to see them half-awake, sliding into their pj's and lazily brushing their teeth with their eyes closed. Nichkhun went downstairs and came back up with Hyeongjun. 

"I'm going to settle Hyeongjun down for bed, then I'm going to help your Umma with a few things downstairs for the cafe tomorrow, so just get your brother's into bed quickly okay?" Nichkhun gave Wooseok a hug, completely different from the typical goodnight kiss but Wooseok was fine from it. He ushered all of his brothers to bed after his dad disappeared downstairs. 

It wasn't a surprise when all his brothers fell asleep the moment they landed on their pillows. But it did disappoint Wooseok that he wouldn't get to read any of them a bedtime story. He ended up placing his planned storytime book on the bookshelf and going to bed as well.

Wooseok lay in bed and listened to Seungyoun and Yohan's light snores. He couldn't help thinking about the incident with Baekhyun, his mother had refused to talk about it and continued to live with a smile plastered on her face that was meant to outshine even the saddest moments. But Wooseok couldn't help but feel guilty whenever fear flickered in her eyes when a male customer unintentionally got too close to her. 

Lost in his thoughts, Wooseok was shaken out of his trance when he heard a- 

_ **SMASH! ** _

The sound of glass shattering followed by muffled yelling lured Wooseok out of bed, he warily eyed his brothers, unfazed by the sound and living happily in their dreams. 

_ **SMASH!** _

His brother's started to stir awake.

"What's happening?" Yohan sluggishly rubbed his eyes. 

"Nothing, just relax." Wooseok raised the blanket over Yohan's shoulders to encourage him to go back to sleep.

"Are you sure?" Seungyoun already had one foot on the ground but Wooseok dashed past him.

"I'll go check Seungyoun, but stay in bed." Wooseok left the room and he saw Minhee walking to the steps. 

"No!" Wooseok quickly grabbed Minhee from the staircase and dragged him to his room.

"But I can hear Umma screaming hyung." Minhyun pouted.

"It's nothing, they're watching a scary movie, stay in bed and Hyung will make sure she's okay." Wooseok gave a reassuring nod to Minhee then at Eunsang who looked at him wordlessly from down the hall but eyes still filled with the same uneasiness. 

Wooseok tiptoed down the stairs, and slowly peeked his head around the corner. He had to bite his tongue from yelling. 

He saw his dad restrained against the wall by several men dressed in black, his face was already bloody and bruised and his shouts were being muffled by a rag. His mother was being dragged out of the cafe, thrashing around and yelling incoherent words to try and free herself. Wooseok couldn't hold back anymore. He'll save them this time. 

"Get away!" He grabbed a nearby coffee pot and slammed it onto one of the men's heads. 

"Ow!" The man grabbed his head in pain. Splatters of blood and shards of glass crashed to the floor.

"What a brat! Let's kill him!" The same man raised a gun at Wooseok.

"No! We can't sidetrack from the intended targets, anything more could leave unnecessary evidence that could get us caught."

"If you say so boss, then I'll keep him down." One of the men tackled Wooseok down, restraining all of his limbs and smirked at him. 

"Say bye bye to your parents you spoiled brat." Wooseok's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't dare!" Wooseok spat into the man's eyes, he punched Wooseok's face in retaliation.

"You are a bad kid! Good thing you'll lose your parents!" The man shouted out in between punches.

Wooseok groaned as he could already taste blood pooling in his mouth, he glanced to the side and saw Nichkhun getting pulled directly out of the cafe.

"Now go cry in the corner." The man hastily got up and kicked Wooseok's head, shoving him into a corner and running out to help deal with Nichkhun.

"Hyung?" Oh no, the only thought that ran through his mind as he looked up to see all of his brother's huddled at the doorway.

"Where are they taking Umma and Appa!!" Seungyoun freaked out at seeing his parents being dragged towards a van outside. Wooseok could feel the pain stabbing him all over his body, but the rush of adrenaline forced himself up to shove his brother's back to the staircase.

"Just go upstairs! Hyung will deal with it!" Wooseok tried to ignore their horrified looks upon seeing his appearance and dashed outside only to see Nichkhun being forced to his knees on the ground. 

"What are you doing to my appa!" Wooseok was about to attack but was thrown aside when he got into range. 

"Hmm which one do you want, the revolver or the pistol?" One of the men spun the said firearms in his hands and let out a short cackle. "This is fun! Maybe I should just use both!"

"He's having none of it!" Wooseok tried running at him again but was tackled to the ground by a different man.

"I guess the brat needs to learn his lesson twice!" The man slammed Wooseok's leg against the concrete at an unreal angle that caused him to shout in pain.

"UMMA! APPA!" Wooseok's arm desperately reached out towards his parents. as if his motion would magically pull them back towards him, but he was immobilized.

"Wooseok! Don't worry I'll be okay!" Nichkhun tried to reassure him.

"I guess both guns will work." With a smirk, the man pointed them both at Nichkhun's head and pulled the trigger. 

_ **BANG! ** _

Wooseok watched in horror as the life left Nichkhun's eyes, blood gushed to the concrete and his body followed it soon after, allowing a pool of blood to form around his head. 

Wooseok was finally able to get off the ground and ran to his father. Tears rolling down his face as he tried to shake him back to life. "You won't get away with this!" He ran to the group of men who were now trying to shove his mother into the van. 

"Let her go!" The men laughed watching the child's attempts by tugging on his mother's leg and kicking at theirs. Wooseok managed to grip onto the side of the van as it started moving but he only managed to hold on for a few meters. 

"You foolish kid, this should take care of you." The blunt side of a gun was smashed against the corner of Wooseok's head, sending him sprawling across the ground. One of them kicked the side of Wooseok's limp body before they were able to close the van door.

"Wooseok! Please watch your brothers-!" Tiffany was cut off by the car door slamming shut.

"This is for good measure." Wooseok could faintly hear one of the men say from the car. 

_**BANG!**_ A gunshot came from within the car. Wooseok cried out in despair.

"And one more for that brat." Wooseok faintly saw a gun stick out of the window being blindly pointed back towards their cafe. 

_**BANG!**_ The bullet pierced through the last standing pane of glass in the cafe, but what followed next pulled Wooseok into a greater state of panic. 

"EUNSANG!"

"SANGGIE!"

"EUNSANG NO!" 

No! I thought I told them to stay back? What happened to Eunsang! Did he got shot? A swarm of thoughts were flooding Wooseok's mind, but his body was fatigued and aching painfully in contrast. He felt himself slowly fading out. 

"Hurry!" An unknown voice rang throughout the air. Before he knew it, Wooseok felt a pair of arms pick him up and load him onto something. He was being pulled away faster then he knew it. 

"Is he still breathing?" The same unknown voice placed a hand over Wooseok's chest, trying to get a feel for his heartbeat, another person gasped after a second.

"It looks like he's going to die soon!" Wooseok felt the pace of whatever he was on quicken. 

"We have to hurry!"

"Where are they taking Wooseok hyung!" 

"Bring back Wooseok! He has to help us save Eunsang and Appa!" Whoever was dragging Wooseok away was ignoring Seungyoun's shouts. Wooseok could hear Seungyoun's footsteps stomp on the cement as he sprinted to them, but faded out as Seungyoun tripped and fell to the ground, yelping at the shock of pain.

"Umma.....Appa........Eunsang......" Wooseok's quiet whispers faded into the night silence. 

The last thing he saw was the abundance of building lights coming to life, likely awakened by the loud commotion from the cafe. 

"His eyes are closing!" The person beside Wooseok started to slap his face, but it was useless. 

Wooseok blacked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Everyone's asleep!" A little boy shook his friend awake among the 4 other sleeping children in the room. 

"Really?" The other let out a tired yawn and let the other drag him out of bed. 

"How do you think Noona would feel if she ever caught us?" Byungchan bit his lip, imagining all the punishments and lectures that could be bestowed onto him.

"Don't be so worried Byungchan, I'm sure she wouldn't mind it, who doesn't love a good midnight stroll."

"Can we do the usual Seongwoo hyung?" Seongwoo turned around and smiled at Byungchan

"We always do the usual Byungchan." They crept out of the side doors and let the cooling temperature seep into their skin. 

"And here is your carriage prince Byungchan." Seongwoo gestured towards a red wagon by the entrance, he placed a plush blanket as a cushion and bowed down to Byungchan. Byungchan cringed and protested.

"Don't call me that! it feels weird, you're older anyway." 

"But you're as sassy as royalty, so get in and let's be on our way!" Byungchan grumbled and climbed into the wagon. He lied down and adjusted his body into a more comfortable position before signalling Seongwoo to start pulling it. 

And off they were, exploring the streets of Busan as the clock struck 12. The duo travelled in silence, the only sound being the tires of the wagon sliding across the cement. 

Byungchan looked sadly at one of the houses. "That's a big house over there hyung...." 

"You like it?" 

"Do you think a family lives in there?" Seongwoo observed the front yard, already gathering enough evidence from the swing set that there were kids in that household.

"Most likely." 

"If someone ever bothers to adopt us, do you think we'll get to live in houses as nice as those?" 

"Maybe not as big, but the loving home that they'll provide is worth enough." Byungchan picked a rock from the side and threw it at Seongwoo's head. Seongwoo glared at him, "What was that for?"

"I'd rather hear you tell me yes," Byungchan grumbled and crossed his arms.

"You just want to be adopted right Byungchan?" Byungchan gazed at the ground sadly. Dropping his arms, Byungchan traced his finger across a puddle in the ground, frowning at his reflection.

"I think we're too old hyung, whoever comes into the orphanage always chooses the younger kids." 

"Don't worry, someone out there is meant to bring us both loving homes." Seongwoo sounded optimistic.

"You don't sound scared about it hyung." 

"It's the silence of the night."

"The silence?" Byungchan quirked his eyebrow.

"Isn't the silence nice? It soothes away all of my fears-"

_ **BANG!** _

"What was that Hyung?" Byungchan bolted upward. Shivering at the distant sounds of people shouting.

"Let's investigate!" Seongwoo quickened his pace and followed the source of the noise.

"Hyung stop!" Byungchan shouted just as a van whizzed past Seongwoo's face.

"You idiot! You almost got me run over!"

"But you're the one in the wagon, I was closer."

_ **BANG!** _

_ **"Eunsang!"** _

"Look!" Their attention was refocussed and Byungchan pointed towards a building a few yards away. 

"Is that a boy laying on the ground?" 

"Hurry up and go check!" Seongwoo ran towards the body on the ground.

"Hey! You're going too fast! It's going to make me fall!" 

"Geez sorry." Seongwoo slowed down. 

"Hurry!" 

"Hypocrite," Seongwoo muttered under his breathe as they got to the boy.

When they got to the boy on the ground, Seongwoo scooped up the boy in his arms and placed him in the wagon, Byungchan had already scooted aside.

"Is he still breathing?"

"It looks like he's going to die soon!" Byungchan tried wiping away at the blood on the boys face. "But his eyes are open slightly."

"Let's get him back to noona. Maybe she can help him." They both heard faint shouts coming from in the building, sounding like they were directed at them, they ignored it and just ran. 

"Umma....Appa.....Eunsang.." 

"What is he saying Byungchan?"

"I can't hear him!"

"Hey! Just hold on!" The buildings surrounding them suddenly came to life as their occupants turned the lights on.

"Hyung, his eyes are closing!" Byungchan suddenly felt the boy go limp under his hand. Byungchan smacked the boy's face a few times to try and keep him awake.

"Hyung he passed out!"

"That's not good! We're almost there at least! " 

They were sprawling through the gates of the orphanage 3 minutes later. Seongwoo picked up the boy bridal style and ran inside, Byungchan following close behind. 

"Noona!" Seongwoo barged into a room and turned the lights on.

"Seongwoo? It's the middle of the night, what on earth is going on?" The woman removed the eye mask from her face and blinked her eyes rapidly to adjust to the light.

"This boy is hurt!" Seongwoo laid him out on the bed. 

"Oh dear! Let me get the first aid kit!" The woman jumped out of bed and disappeared for a moment before returning with a kit.

"Now, I'll take care of him, you guys can go to sleep."

"Can you bring him to us when you're done noona?"

"But it's late Seongwoo."

"Please, I just want to see if he's okay."

"Okay fine, but go to bed please."

~

"Do you think he'll be okay?" 

"I'm not sure, I hope so." Seongwoo waited for Byungchan to ask another question but realized the other had fallen asleep immediately after asking. 

Seongwoo laid in bed and stared at the stars out the window. The boy was brought in after an hour or so.

"Here he is Seongwoo, I guess you want him to rest beside you." 

"You're the best Yoona noona!" Seongwoo exclaimed quietly as to not wake the other children in the room.

"No problem... but we'll have to discuss how you found him in the morning." Yoona disappeared after laying the boy down beside Seongwoo.

Seongwoo studied the boy's face, letting his fingers graze the bandage on the boy's cheek

"Wow." The word escaped Seongwoo's lips as he admired the boys sleeping face.

"Don't worry." Seongwoo carefully wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist and snuggled his head to his chest, he didn't even know why he was doing it.

"I'll make sure you don't get hurt ever again."

_ **A handful of streets away~~** _

"No!" Yohan sobbed as he tried to shake Eunsang awake, "You idiot wake up!" Yohan shook Eunsang harder, but the only response he got was blood splattering across his hands and clothes. Several medics and police officers started to encircle the two. "I know you're only pretending you're asleep because you don't want to talk to the strangers here so get up!" 

"That's enough kid." An officer plucked Yohan off of Eunsang's body. He loosened his grip on Yohan after he was a good 10 feet away, letting Seungyoun get ahold of him.

"Yohan, calm down." Seungyoun tried to keep him standing straight but he instead fell to his knees on the ground, gripping his hands in his hair, ignoring the blood painting his face. 

"Appa! Eunsang!" Yohan was having a mental breakdown on the ground as he watched his Appa get put in a body bag and Eunsang placed on a stretcher to be pushed into the back of an ambulance. "Please save Eunsang at least!" He begged one of the passing medics in desperation, who could only offer him a sympathetic smile.

"Let's take a few deep breaths Yohan." Seungyoun pulled Yohan up and tried to give him a hug but Yohan only shoved him away.

"No Seungyoun! Umma and Wooseok Hyung are missing too! Why should I calm down!" Yohan was screeching at Seungyoun's face. Seungyoun had never seen such a negative side to Yohan.

"I-is Appa d-dead? Minhee sat beside his Appa in the half-open body bag and looked at one of the police officers putting him in, tears were streaming down his face. The police officer made an unreadable face and picked Minhee off the ground.

"He's just in a better place now." Minhee shook his head.

"N-no! A-appa always s-says the b-best place is h-home!" 

"Is this your brother?" A police officer came out of the cafe holding Hyeongjun, he was crying from being held in foreign arms. 

"Yes." Seungyoun took Hyeongjun out of the officer's hands.

"Let's get you kids somewhere safer." Seungyoun followed diligently and sat in the back of the police car. 

"No please! 1 more minute!" Yohan pleaded from his spot on the ground.

"It's late kid." The officer dragged a flailing Yohan by the collar into the car and made sure Seungyoun had a restraining hand on him before getting Minhee. 

"A-appa!" Minhee watched the body bag get loaded beside Eunsang in the ambulance.

"Okay kid let's go-."

"H-he's gone h-hyung!" Minhee ignored the officer and ran into the car himself, he sat on Seungyoun's lap and cried into his chest. 

"Where's Wooseok and Umma?" Seungyoun bit his lip nervously, he couldn't handle keeping his brothers emotionally stable when he was trying to hold himself together. 

"Don't worry," The officer in the front seat turned around to face them, "We sent out a missing report, they'll be found soon." 

"Do you think they have any relatives?" Seungyoun could hear officers talking outside.

"I hope they do, I'd hate separating them in an orphanage or a foster home." 

And then Seungyoun realized.

They don't have any relatives. 

His sobs filled the police car as it drove away................. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eunsang you can stop playing around now get up...
> 
> Eunsang? 
> 
> EUNSANG!
> 
> :(
> 
> But you know what they always say, a smaller cast is a better cast.
> 
> Haha......
> 
> Bad joke? Okay~
> 
> We have already reached a pivotal point of the story D: I'm so glad I got to rework this story there was quite a bit that I added instead of "boom I shoot you." and I hope it made this chapter a lot more realistic. enjoyable and/or sad ;(
> 
> I'm actually pretty anxious with school starting so you'll see how much school affects me depending on how fast I get the next chapter out ;)
> 
> Do not hesitate to send me your love with kudos and comments <3 
> 
> Eunsang I'm serious get up now


	6. Prologue Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of a heartbreaking evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is around 4k ;D
> 
> I'm saying that because I have never written a chapter that long before hehe
> 
> Enjoy~~~ (The bedroom scene later is one of my favorites again xd)

****

It was a rather calm night for the pair of crows that settled on a tree branch, lowering their heads to rest until a sudden commotion from a nearby window caused them to fly away.

"You're pathetic!" Taeyeon slapped Jinhyuk across the face, sending him to the ground. 

Jinhyuk immediately huddled into himself and started crying. Taeyeon threw a wrapper at him. "I found that cookie wrapper in the trash and I know it was yours! What did I say about losing weight!" Taeyeon pulled Jinhyuk up by his collar and glared at him. She smirked at his trembling lips.

"Your dad's not helping you out of this one." Jinhyuk could smell the scent of soju coming from her. 

"Get in and don't bother coming out!" Taeyeon pushed Jinhyuk into his room and locked it, putting a chair under the handle to effectively prevent movement. 

At least she was too drunk to think about windows. 

So Jinhyuk took the opportunity and slowly climbed down a ladder he had positioned under his window for days like this.

Then he ran.

His feet pounded the pavement as he ran.

He wanted to get away.

A cat dashed past Jinhyuk, maybe it just wanted to get away like he did.

Maybe it was too late to disturb Seongwoo and Byungchan. Jinhyuk looked up at a city clock and saw that it was nearing **2 am**. 

It was definitely too early, but Jinhyuk's legs still carried him to the orphanage, he was hesitant to enter. There was a chance they would still be up, possibly returning from one of their late-night strolls.

"Don't disturb people unless you want to be even more pathetic!" Jinhyuk shuddered at the thought of a past insult his mother had given him.

Not wanting to be pathetic to his friends, Jinhyuk slid down the wall and cried alone on the grass, all of this wouldn't have happened if his dad was home, but his dad's barely been home for the last few days.

"Where are you appa, I needed you......" Jinhyuk whispered into the dark, at least something would always be there for him, even if it was just the silence of the night.

He fell asleep somewhere in the middle of sobs and sniffles. 

~~~

"Jinhyuk~~" He felt a finger poking his cheek, sunlight pierced his eyes at that moment and caused him to open them. Seongwoo was gazing at him with concerned eyes and a gentle smile,

"What are you doing sleeping outside?" Jinhyuk sat up straight after his realization, embarrassed that he was caught.

"I didn't want to disturb you while you were sleeping..." Jinhyuk turned around in shame but Seongwoo went to the other side and sat so that they were facing each other again.

"It's okay Jinhyuk, you're never a disturbance to me or Byungchan.....oh .. Did she do it again?" Seongwoo brushed his finger over Jinhyuk's lightly bruised cheek. A stray tear leaving Jinhyuk's eye was enough of an answer. 

"Oh Jinhyuk, it's okay." Seongwoo hugged Jinhyuk, letting the other relax in his arms, "If I could, I'd put that witch in jail." The duo retained their position for a few minutes, allowing Jinhyuk to unwind.

"Oh! Hello Jinhyuk!" Yoona had walked out of the orphanage with Byungchan beside her, he lit up at the sight of Jinhyuk and hugged him. "Is your cheek okay?" Yoona eyed his bruised cheek worriedly. 

"I just fell on my face..." Yoona pursed her lips, opening them to comment on something but quickly shutting them, she seemed to think about what she wanted to say before speaking again.

"If you say so." Yoona looked unconvinced but decided not to push it. "Do you mind going inside? I need to clarify a few things with Seongwoo and Byungchan, but help yourself to some breakfast in the kitchen." 

"Thank you noona." Jinhyuk bowed and walked inside the orphanage. After Jinhyuk disappeared, Yoona turned to the two in front of her. 

"Now that boy, I'm glad you guys found him but, you both snuck out at night?" The two children lowered their head in shame. 

"We're sorry noona.." Yoona rested against the wall and looked at them. "How often do you guys go out then?" 

"Every night that we can...." Yoona made an 'o' with her mouth, she squinted her eyes for a moment before relaxing them. 

"I'll let it slide, we don't need to discuss why but I can understand why you two are going out." The boys' faces lit up. "However," They pouted again, "We'll have to discuss safety precautions okay?" 

"Okay noona!" They cheered in unison. 

"Also, when you found that boy last night, can you please describe what happened? Who knows I might have to write out something for the police." Seongwoo dove into an explanation of the course of actions that transpired last night to Yoona, with sprinkles of details from Byungchan.

~~~

The orphanage was always as it was, filled with kids but it was somehow well kept, he always wondered how Yoona noona managed everything alone.

"Ngh Let me go!" The shouting drew curiosity out of Jinhyuk, he was compelled to go towards Seongwoo and Byungchan's room that they shared with a few other kids.

"My brothers!" Jinhyuk peeked his head in and widened his eyes at the scene unfolding before him.

There was a new boy he'd never seen before in Seongwoo's bed, he was flailing and thrashing about but was restrained by several kids.

"Seongwoo hyung said you had to stay in bed if you wake up, ow!" One of the kids holding the boy down got kicked in the face from the tangle of limbs and fell to the ground.

"Let me see my family!" The boy was already crying, Jinhyuk could see one of his legs jerking at awkward angles, it seemed injured or broken.

"Jinhyuk hyung help us!" One of the kids noticed him at the doorway and looked at him pleadingly.

"Who is that?"

"We don't know, Seongwoo hyung said he was hurt and if he woke up when he was outside, then we couldn't let him out of bed."

"Mmm thanks Chani, guys!" All the kids turned their attention towards Jinhyuk, the boy in the bed seemed to not notice him. "Seongwoo told me to help him alone, you guys can go eat breakfast or play somewhere else if you want." And with that command, all the kids happily left the room, it was exhausting for them to hold down someone who was older stronger.

"I-." Crash! The boy didn't realize he wasn't being restrained anymore and threw himself straight off the bed. He seemed to not care about the pain and tried getting up, stumbling over his bad leg.

"Don't move, your leg is hurt." The boy finally noticed Jinhyuk and Jinhyuk had to hold in a gasp after their initial eye contact. Reddened eyes shimmering with tears, quivering lips from exhaustion and aggravation. He could see the pain in the boy's eyes, he knows, he's felt it before. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and a few smaller ones concealing several small cuts on his face. Aside from his head, a large portion of his body was also wrapped in a cloth that had become slightly bloodstained.

"Please let me see my family!" The boy was begging Jinhyuk from his spot on the ground as if Jinhyuk had the power to keep him there. 

"I can't, well maybe noona can help you, but I'm here to help too." The boy tried to use Jinhyuk's leg as leverage to hoist himself up, but failed and fell to the floor again. His lip quivered from the pain.

"Help me see my family." He sounded defeated.

"Shhhh... relax." Jinhyuk knelt beside the boy and took out a handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped the boy's tears away from his face. "We'll get you to your family soon."

"I *sniff* couldn't *sniff* stop them." Wooseok pulled at his own hair, Jinhyuk managed to loosen his grasp.

"Who?"

"It's n-nothing." The boy calmed down a little and rested his face in Jinhyuk's lap, Jinhyuk could feel the tears soaking his pants. 

"Don't worry I'm nice, my name is Jinhyuk and yours?" Jinhyuk tried patting the boy's head to calm him down.

"W-Wooseok." 

"And how old are you?"

"11." Jinhyuk flashed him a smile.

"Wow, then I guess I'm older, I'm 12!" Jinhyuk set his problems aside and wrapped his arms around Wooseok. He seemed so fragile and delicate and Jinhyuk felt like he wanted to protect him forever. 

"Will you bring me to my family soon?" Jinhyuk stared at the ceiling for a moment before he thought of an answer.

"When Yoona noona comes back in we'll see." And they stayed in that position for a while, the only thing filling the silence was Wooseok's heavy breaths and all Jinhyuk could do was hold him closer and tell him it was okay, he ignored the weird feeling he felt in his stomach. 

"Oh no! Is he okay?" Seongwoo appeared at the doorway and ran towards them. He wrapped an arm around Wooseok's waist and whispered in his ear, "I'm here to keep you safe." 

I'm the one who'll keep him safe. Jinhyuk bit back the words and simply smiled back. 

Seongwoo spoke again, "I never got your name what is it?" 

"Wooseok.." 

"Well, I'm Seongwoo! And this is Byungchan!" Seongwoo motioned the younger boy to come in from his place at the doorway, Yoona came in right after.

"I called the police and he seems to be missing." Everyone's eyes -sans Wooseok- widened at the news.

"What happened to him." Yoona bit her lip, contemplating whether or not she should tell them. "It's complicated." She settled for the latter of the options. "But they said we have to bring him to the hospital as soon as possible." 

"Are my brothers there?" Wooseok spoke up.

"Likely, let's get you loaded into the car Wooseok." Yoona helped Wooseok up to his feet, letting him grip her side tightly as they were about to leave the room.

Seongwoo grabbed Byungchan's hand and trailed Yoona out of the door. "Can we come?"

"Of course you can, how about you Jinhyuk?"

Jinhyuk's eyes shifted nervously, "I don't know...." 

"Come on!" Yoona encouraged him, "Your mother wouldn't mind."

"If that's the case, then I guess so." Jinhyuk gave a small smile.

"Perfect! I'll call my friend to come over to watch the place then we'll be on our way."

~~

They walked into the hospital 30 minutes later, the three boys walked in front of Yoona and carried Wooseok together. Seongwoo and Jinhyuk seemed like they were going to start fighting over who'd get to hold him so Byungchan just had them all carry Wooseok to compromise. A couple of police officers and nurses were standing in the lobby, awaiting their arrival. The nurses ushered Wooseok into a wheelchair.

"Good morning." Yoona bowed slightly. 

An officer spoke up, "It's great to meet you, Ms. Kim, his brothers haven't been able to sleep all night."

"It's nothing officer, the real heroes are these boys who found him." She gestured to the boys in front of her. "So, is it true?" 

"Unfortunately yes," The officer shook his head, "Pronounced dead around 1 am when police reached the cafe, was his father Hwang Nichkhun, his mother Hwang Tiffany is currently missing." Wooseok took a sharp inhale at the news. Jinhyuk could sense his emotions building up quickly and tried calming him down by stroking his hand. With each swipe, Wooseok held back another tear. Yoona clenched her purse seeing Wooseok trying to hold himself together and turned back to the officer.

"That's unfortunate and-." The officer held up his hand to interrupt her.

"There is more Ms. Kim, his younger brother Hwang Eunsang was shot as well. Even though the shot wasn't fatal, another circumstance of the injury put his life in jeopardy. He is in critical condition and is currently in surgery." 

"Eunsang!" Wooseok shouted his name out loud. "He'll b-be okay r-right?" Wooseok gripped the sides of his wheelchair, it seemed like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

"We'll have to see." 

"Can I... s-see a-appa?" Tears were starting to trickle already. 

"Sure we can." A nurse started pushing Wooseok's wheelchair down a corridor leading to the morgue. The three boys instinctively began to follow them.

"No, don't follow them." Yoona held out a restrictive arm.. "He needs his privacy." Seongwoo frowned.

"Can we at least stay until he gets back?" Yoona nodded.

"If you say so Seongwoo, we can wait." They thanked the officers and sat at in the chairs in the lobby. 

"Why are the officers still there?" Byungchan couldn't help but get curious.

"Maybe they're waiting for someone," Yoona said.

"You think someone important?" Jinhyuk asked.

"Maybe or the officers don't want to go out and do their other duties." Said Seongwoo.

"That's possible."

~~~

It was borderline hysterical, Wooseok felt himself dying on the inside. He never imagined himself visiting a morgue, he's only seen them in the hospital dramas that Seungyoun liked to watch. Body after body, the nurse pushed Wooseok's wheelchair down a corridor of what was practically a dug up graveyard. All of the bodies were covered with blankets, giving Wooseok flashbacks to the dramas. Families led down in denial, praying that the corpse under the cloth wouldn't be a loved one. 

But Wooseok wasn't in denial, and he wasn't praying. 

"Well." The nurse stopped near the end, leading Wooseok to the head of a body. She uncovered the blanket and Wooseok's eyes widened. Nichkhun's eyes pierced back at him, frozen, emotionless. A deep gun wound was still fresh on his forehead, glistening with blood but dry enough to start to form a scab on the edges. 

"Shit they forgot to close his eyes." The nurse mumbled, hoping the view didn't traumatize Wooseok, she reached over and closed Nichkhun's eyelids. "Um." She was flustered by the incident. "I'll leave you for a bit." And she walked away. 

Wooseok couldn't keep track of how long he stared at his father's face. They always say rest in peace, but Nichkhun's face had distress marked all over it. From the downturned lips to the eyes that were forced close, his father seemed like he still seethed with anger. Wooseok gritted his teeth, ready to curse the gods above. Instead, he started to cry. 

"Appa, I miss you already." Wooseok choked in between sobs. He caressed his father's face, flinching at how cold it was to the touch. Birthdays, graduations, marriages, future memories that Wooseok imagined sharing with his family seemed to turn to dust. 

"What do I do without you and umma? Umma always said I was good but," Wooseok took a deep inhale, "I'm not good enough to take care of my brothers...." Wooseok tried to wipe his tears away but they kept falling.

"I couldn't even protect you guys, how am I supposed to watch over 5 people? What if I lose Eunsang in a minute too?" Wooseok held his head in his hands. "If Eunsang leaves me too, how will I be capable to care for 4 people. Wait no." Wooseok raised his head at his realization. 

"I'm not even old enough to keep my brothers, the authorities will take them away!" Wooseok sobbed harder. "No, why couldn't I be stronger, I just needed to save you, now I'm losing the 7 people I loved because of my incapabilities." Wooseok gripped the edges of the bed frame hard. 

"I hate them! Whoever took you and umma away from me deserves to die!" Wooseok shouted angrily, tears streaming and falling to the ground. Those stupid hospital dramas, everyone that grieved for losing someone they cared for simply moved on. If murder was the case, they would maybe curse them out and wish them the worst but it never exceeded beyond that. Wooseok felt played, he felt like life gave him a script that he was supposed to abide to. That he is supposed to curse the killers and move on after that. Well, 

_**"I'll make them pay for it**_." Maybe Wooseok was going to change the script. 

The nurse returned after 5 minutes, surprised at how dishevelled Wooseok became, with tousled hair and red eyes, she didn't dare try to console him.

~~~~~

Wooseok was back out after another 30 minutes, his eyes were red from crying and his head was hung down. 

"HYUNG!" A shout came from out of nowhere. Suddenly, three boys were running down the hall and crashing Wooseok into a bear hug. One nurse panicked and tried to get them off to prevent further injury to Wooseok while another nurse followed them, holding Hyeongjun in her arms. 

"We didn't know where you went!" They were all crying in their arms. 

"Is Eunsang okay?" Wooseok asked.

"We don't know hyung," Seungyoun said

"B-but what h-happened to him?" 

"I don't know, but the glass window broke in the cafe and Eunsang was standing right beside it." Yohan's voice wavered. " I couldn't tell if he got shot, his body was all cut up from the glass and he was bleeding so much hyung!" The boys couldn't stop crying. "And we g-got scared w-when he closed his e-eyes, because we thought we were going to l-lose h-him like y-you, appa, and u-umma." Wooseok let out a shaky laugh.

"It's okay, h-hyung is here now." Wooseok started going limp in his brother's arms. Yohan turned to one of the nurses with a panicked expression, the situation was giving him Eunsang flashbacks that he did not want to revisit. In turn, the nurse gave him a reassuring nod and smile.

"I think he's tired." The nurse spoke up. "We should set him up in a room too, he needs to rest his injuries." She was about to move towards Wooseok but one of the officers stepped in front of her. 

"Hold off on that, they need to meet someone." An officer stopped the nurse from proceeding.

"Someone?" Everyone looked at the officer confused. He was about to say something but instead pointed towards the entrance.

"Speaking of, she has just arrived." All their heads darted to a woman walking into the hospital with an officer beside her. Her expression was neutral, lips drawn in a tight line as she seemed engaged in whatever the person walking beside was saying. Her demeanour had a stern and cold aura around her that sent shivers down their spines. A simple business casual outfit of white and black adorned her body, complimenting the intimidating presence she gave. Everyone in the room, including the boys, couldn't help but bow to her. 

The officer greeted her "It's nice to meet you Ms.Jung ." The woman nodded

"It's my pleasure to be here officer." Ms. Jung returned a slight bow, stoic expression still etched on her face.

"Ms.Jung?" Everyone was still confused. Seungyoun exchanged a look with Yohan, what could this woman possibly have to do with their lives? The officer standing beside Ms. Jung answered the unspoken question.

"She's...... She's your mother's sister." Seungyoun gasped.

"We have an aunt?" Wooseok asked. "Our parents never told us."

"Ooo!" Minhee ran up to the woman. He stopped for a moment to make eye contact with his aunt, seeming unbothered by her cold expression, he hugged her leg. "She feels like Umma~" Minhee snuggled into her leg. Then tears started forming in his eyes again. "I m-miss Umma." The woman's expression immediately melted upon looking at Minhee's reaction to her.

"Aww, you must be Minhee. The officer said a lot of good things about you." She knelt down to hug Minhee. "You can call me Aunt Jessica if you want." Minhee wiped away one of his tears. 

"Auntie Sica?" Jessica giggled.

"Haha, that works too." Minhee enjoyed the optimism, beaming a smile at Jessica.

Wooseok was still suspicious, "How come we never knew about you?" he inquired. The question caused Jessica to fidget with the hem of her sleeve.

"Who cares!" Seungyoun grasped the edges of Wooseok's wheelchair, "This means we don't have to be separated!"

"He is correct," The officer beside Jessica spoke, "If we didn't find a relative, you all would have been most likely split up among orphanages and foster homes.

"It's a long story, maybe we'll save it for another day?" Jessica hugged Seungyoun and Yohan, she looked at Wooseok concerned. "Oh dear, how many injuries do you have?"

"Enough to hurt forever." Jessica's pouted.

"Oh, Wooseok." Jessica hugged her nephew. "I can only imagine how hard it must be for you guys right now, how's the other one doing?" She tried wording her phrases carefully to avoid causing them to start crying. 

"Still in surgery, is it okay if we set your nephew up in a room to rest his injuries?" The nurse from before said. 

"Ahhh sorry, I actually have no time to stay here." Jessica bowed apologetically.

"No time to stay?" They got confused again.

"Your aunt lives in Seoul, she has luckily been in Busan over the last week so we were able to trace her down and contact her fast." The officer stated. 

"I'm sorry guys, but you'll have to move to Seoul." Jessica gave them a small smile

"Seoul!?!?" 

"Yes, I live in Seoul and I know it's a little busier then Busan so I hope you guys can adjust." 

"But what about the cafe?" Seungyoun asked.

"I'm sorry but it has to be shut down."

"No cafe in Seoul?" Minhee was shocked. Jessica shook her head.

"Sorry, I can't afford to set up a cafe." 

"B-but I l-loved t-the cafe." Minhee's waterworks started again. 

Jessica bit her lip, she didn't want to disappoint them but she had no choice. "Maybe soon we can open up a cafe."

"What's going to happen to Eunsang?" Yohan asked.

"He's getting transferred to a hospital in Seoul after his surgery. We should get going." Jessica thanked the officers and nurses, taking Hyeongjun as well, she herded them towards the door.

"We should take our leave then." Yoona finally stood up with Seongwoo, Byungchan, and Jinhyuk. 

"And you are?" 

"I'm Yoona, and these boys are Seongwoo, Byungchan, and Jinhyuk." Yoona pointed to each of them respectively. "They happened to help Wooseok last night." 

"Wow, you guys are real heroes!" Jessica gave them a thumbs up. "Are you their mom?" 

"Unfortunately not, I run the orphanage that they live in, minus Jinhyuk who has a family." Jessica looked at them sympathetically.

"You know, I think I'd adopt you guys." Their faces lit up at the idea. "But-." They started sulking. "I don't think I can afford the space for you guys, I already have these lovely boys to take care of now. You know what Yoona?" 

"Yes?"

"If they're not adopted in a couple of years, give me a call, and I'll take care of it." Jessica jostled down her number on a piece of paper and handed it to Yoona. 

"Is this goodbye already?" Jinhyuk and Seongwoo walked up to Wooseok, Byungchan trailed behind them. 

"I guess it is, thanks for everything." Wooseok smiled.

"Let's meet again?" 

"Of course we can."

"Pinky promise?" The trio held out their pinkies. Wooseok laughed and held out his own pinky for them.

"Promise." And with that Jessica pushed Wooseok's wheelchair out of the hospital, Seungyoun carried Hyeongjun with the other two following. They waved goodbye to the quartet. 

"Where are we going to go?" 

"We're going to go back and get your things." Silence fell over the car, no one was looking forward to going back, but they were all in front of it after 20 minutes. 

Jessica rushed the boys upstairs, so they'd avoid looking upon the trashed up, former cafe. The last thing they needed to see was the broken glass, shattered decorations, thrown tables, and police tape with the lingering detectives and officers.

Yohan went to work in the bedrooms, with Wooseok packing slowly but carefully in the living room, wheeling himself from shelf to box repeatedly. Jessica worked between the two rooms and the kitchen, making sure everything was packed properly. Minhee stood in front of the door to their parent's room wordlessly, Seungyoun watched him from behind the corner. He quickly opened the door and slipped inside. Seungyoun frowned when he could already start to hear Minhee cry. 

Seungyoun looked back down the hallway to see Wooseok still packing in the living room, for the first time, he seemed too worn out to hear Minhee's cries. Jessica seemed busy and Seungyoun knew Yohan had busied himself in their bedrooms to avoid walking into their parent's room. Seungyoun scratched his head, as the big brother, Wooseok usually dealt with any of them crying, but Seungyoun's already had to be the big brother for the last 24 hours and Wooseok was clearly out of the picture at the moment, he would have to step up to the plate. 

"Minhee~" Seungyoun said softly as he entered the bedroom. Minhee was nowhere in sight but his sniffles echoed throughout the room. He followed the source of the sound and his heart shattered seeing Minhee crying on the floor behind the dresser, hugging a family picture to his chest. 

"Hyung...." Minhee stared back at his brother with teary eyes, "Will you leave me too?" 

Seungyoun sat on the floor beside Minhee, "Why would I ever leave you?" Minhee sniffled again.

"Umma and appa and Eunsang left me. An officer said appa went to a better place, but hyung!" Minhee started crying harder. "Appa always said the b-best place is home, and then he left me. And umma and sanggie left too. Is home not the best place b-because of me h-hyung? Will you l-leave because of me too?" Seungyoun pulled Minhee into his arms. 

"Minhee, no one left because of you. You know we all love you and it's just, they want to watch over us now." Seungyoun could feel his chest getting wet with tears and tried to rub soothing circles down Minhee's back. "When you get older, you don't stay at home a lot. Look at your hyungs, sometimes you don't see us for a long time because we go to school. So appa and umma and Eunsang thought that you would be so sad the day you start leaving home, so they decided to start watching over you now. Home is a great place to be in, but there will always be home in your heart, so umma and appa and sanggie will make sure you're always okay." 

"Will they come to visit?" Seungyoun's breath hitched, he already knew the case on their father, but he couldn't confirm anything on their mother or Eunsang. 

"When you dream at night Minhee, maybe they will pay you a visit." Minhee looked up at Seungyoun with red eyes.

"Really?" Seungyoun nodded.

"Yes Minhee, they will." Minhee wiped a tear on Seungyoun's cheek, and that was when he realized he had started crying too. 

"And hyung will never leave me?" 

"No I won't, and even if I h-have to, I will make sure I stay in your heart. Now," Seungyoun stood up, trying to slow his tears, "How about we pack this room, we want to take pieces of umma and appa with us right?" Minhee let out a content giggle.

"Will we take pieces of Eunsang hyung with us too?" Seungyoun bit his lip, he really hoped at least Eunsang would stay for them. 

"Yes, we will take pieces of Eunsang with us too." 

Jessica smiled from outside the doorway, "Seungyoun handled that well," She muttered to herself as she walked back to the kitchen.

Packing everything they could bring, they were all settled back in the car after an hour or so. Jessica decided not to comment on anything, she watched them all break down at least 4 times while they went through their parents' possessions that she didn't want to upset them anymore.

She had also received a call that Eunsang still had complications but they would be able to transfer him to Seoul in a few hours. Might as well get a head start on Seoul.

With a hopeful heart, Jessica revved her engine and began their journey down the street, until she let out a huge yawn at the intersection and realized she was tired.

"Sorry boys if you don't mind, I need some caffeine in my system.... ooh look! There's a place over there, I just need to stop over for a couple of minutes." Jessica apologetically ushered the boys into the cafe, Kim Cafe the sign read as they walked in.

"Perfect, it's a short lineup, do you guys want some hot chocolate." Receiving 4 shakes of the head, they all went together in the line and waited to be called.

"Auntie Sica?"

"Yes, Yohan?" Yohan shifted uncomfortably on his spot.

"I need to pee." Wooseok grabbed Yohan's hand. 

"I'll go with him." Jessica shook her head.

"You don't need to do that Wooseok, you're hurt-"

"I'll go with him." Jessica gestured to Seungyoun.

"No it's fine, Seungyoun can go with hi-"

"I'll go with him."

"Well, if you insist, but please be careful." Yohan wheeled Wooseok to the bathroom, parking him outside to wait while he did his business.

"You did a great job last night." Wooseok curiously turned his head around the corner to follow the source of the voice, her back was turned to him but it was no doubt Kim Taeyeon. 

"Those bastards needed to die, no one ever beats my cafe or takes my husband." Wooseok's hands balled up into fists, there was no way she could be referring to what he thinks it is.

"Yes, for killing those Hwangs, you'll get the deposit tonight, don't worry." An angry tear left Wooseok's cheek, that witch was behind everything. She seemed to walk away so he couldn't listen in to the conversation anymore. 

"Why do you look so angry hyung?" Yohan had come back out. 

"It's nothing."

"But your hands are squeezed so tight that they're turning white!" Wooseok loosened his fists at that statement. 

"Let's just go back." Yohan pushed him back out to Jessica awaiting with a cup of coffee in her hand. 

"Perfect, let's go!" As she helped Wooseok out of the cafe, he looked back into the cafe, he saw Taeyeon standing by the cash register and happily chatting with a customer.

_ **One day, I'm going to make you pay for everything, I promise. ** _

**Next time on I Love You a Latte (One Day I'm Going to Hurt You)**

"Is this Jung Jessica?" 

"Yes it is, why may you be calling?"

"This is the police....... we've happened to find someone who's in relation to you."

"And who may that be?"

"She identifies as Hwang Tiffany." 

"MY SISTER!?!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School has sucked so far and it's only been a week, I posted this so I could feel like I was getting something done with my life xD. I hope you're all handling life well right now, I'm still working it out.
> 
> That bedroom scene with Minhee and Seungyoun, ugh I lowkey love it I hope you did too~
> 
> The prologue should have about 8 chapters so we're halfway there! 
> 
> Don't hesitate to leave your support with a kudos or a comment, it's greatly appreciated!


	7. Prologue Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, it's hard to move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story gets even softer than before xD, hopefully you're not looking for drama rn.
> 
> Enjoy~~~

**As of last night, there has been an attack on a popular cafe in Busan, resulting in the murder of owner Hwang Nichkhun and the presumed death of his wife-**

Jessica switched the station on the radio as she drove, she made a quick check in her mirror to make sure none of the boys were awake to hear what was on the radio. She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing their sleeping faces and refocused on the road.

````

This wasn't a good start, Jessica knew her nephews had slowly woken up as they got closer to their destination, but none of them made a single sound. An evident sign of their sadness. 

Jessica turned to all of them with a wide smile, trying to ignore their drooped expressions and red eyes. She got out of the car. 

"We're here guys!" Jessica opened up the side doors of the car after she pulled up to her house. She tried to sound enthusiastic to hopefully raise the boys' spirits but the only response she got were blinks from their tearful eyes. 

"I'm sure you'll like it guys, why don't we take a look around?" She was happy that there was some curiosity in them and they hopped out of the car, Wooseok was able to swap his wheelchair for crutches which he gladly did when they passed a hospital.

When he hopped out of the car, Minhee was looking at him hopefully before remembering how injured his hyung was, he ran to Seungyoun and held his hand instead. He probably wanted a piggyback.

"I know it's a little small, I live alone, but I hope you guys could make it work?" All of them stood timidly at the doorway. "Don't be shy! Feel free to look around, I'll go whip us up some lunch while you're at it." After giving them a reassuring smile, Jessica disappeared into the kitchen and the sound of drawers opening filled the silence looming over the boys for a few seconds.

"Well, I guess we should look around." An obvious attempt at enthusiasm came from Seungyoun and even though the sentence still ended on a flat note, they moved from their spots and looked around the place. Most of them did, Wooseok rested on the couch with Hyeongjun napping on his lap as the other three walked around.

It was a simple place, it had a kitchen, living room with a moderately sized dining setup in the corner of the kitchen. Jessica seemed to have a big room to herself, complete with a private bathroom. There was another bathroom they could use, along with two other bedrooms that seemed like Jessica still had to move some of her things from.

"Why are there so many creepy dolls?" Yohan poked at a mannequin, shaking in fear when its arm shook at him.

"Maybe she's a designer." Seungyoun pointed at the clothing sketches and blueprints littered on a desk.

"What's a designer?" Minhee tilted his head.

"That means she makes clothes Minhee." They walked back to the living room and plopped on the couch opposite of Wooseok and Hyeongjun.

"It's as big as our place......" Seungyoun had no other way of saying it.

"That's good, at least it'll be easier to adjust," Wooseok commented, "same rooms then?"

"I guess so." They fell into a silence that bordered on awkward and all they could do was twiddle their thumbs for several minutes.

"Lunch is ready!" Jessica came out of the kitchen. "What did you think of the place?"

"It's nice..." Wooseok said.

"Great! I was a little worried about your opinions, let's go eat!" Jessica bent down to take Hyeongjun out of Wooseok's arms- **"I can carry him."**

"Sure Wooseok! Just be a little careful." Jessica flinched at Wooseok wincing in pain as he got up. "Are you sure? I can-"

**"I can do it."** Wooseok's grip around Hyeongjun tightened.

"Oh okay, just don't trip." Taking the hint, Jessica followed the other three to the kitchen.

Wooseok hobbled into the kitchen with Hyeongjun 2 minutes later, acting like he didn't just take that long on a 10-second task. He steadied himself down onto a chair while balancing Hyeongjun on his lap.

"Sorry, I'll buy a baby chair when we go out." His aunt smiled apologetically and set down their bowls of food.

"I'm not the best cook, but I hope you guys find the kimchi stew good!" Jessica sat down with her bowl and took the first bite to show she wasn't a bad cook.

They all tried a sip and the flicker of enjoyment in their eyes was enough for Jessica to flash them a grin at their approval. Wooseok fed a small spoonful to Hyeongjun who also let out a quiet squeal in delight. Jessica admired the sight of so many people enjoying her cooking but noticed one of them sitting still on their chair. 

"You're not hungry Seungyoun?" He still hadn't touched his stew after a few minutes.

"No...." Yohan smirked at Seungyoun from across the table. Who promptly kicked him under the table, Jessica pretended to not notice the yelp. 

"Are you allergic to something?" Seungyoun shook his head.

"No I-." 

"His tongue can't handle hot food!" Yohan exclaimed, causing Seungyoun to glare at him again.

"Yeah right, Yohan!" Seungyoun quickly took a sip to protect his pride, spitting it out immediately and cradling his tongue from the heat. Yohan gave him a smug look.

"Really? You're exactly like your halmeoni!" Jessica sadly reminisced on the memories. "If I remember right, she always had to put half a cup of cold water in her soup, you want that?" Seungyoun's stomach grumbled, enough of an answer to draw a laugh out of his aunt and for her to get up to grab some cold water. 

"There you go." She carefully poured the water in to avoid splashing and gave it a couple of stirs, "Is that better?" Seungyoun tried it and beamed at her. "It is good!"

"I'm glad you like it." Everyone fell into a more comfortable silence than before after the problem was resolved.

_**RINGGGG!** _The sound of a telephone ringing bellowed through their silence and prompted Jessica to answer it.

"Hello?" Jessica glanced over her shoulder, all the boys were looking at her. 

"Is this Ms.Jung?" Jessica unconsciously nodded at the question.

"Yes it is, and you are?"

"I'm Dr.Kim, the surgeon who did surgery on your nephew Hwang Eunsang." Jessica turned the phone to speaker so the other boys could listen. "Guys it's one of the doctors." They all dropped their spoons to listen attentively.

"How did Eunsang's surgery go?" Jessica asked.

"It was successful." Seungyoun was the first one to raise his hands in the air.

"YAY!" All the boys cheered.

"However...."

"It's hard to explain... I'll disclose more when you guys come here, and you may come now if you want."

"Thank you, doctor, we'll be there soon." By the time Jessica came back after setting the phone away, all the boys were nearly finished with their meal. Obviously devouring it fast with the intent to see their brother.

"Wait." Being the first one to finish his bowl first, Yohan furrowed his eyebrows while he thought. "Is something wrong with Eunsang?" 

"Why would something be wrong with him, the doctor said his surgery was successful," Seungyoun said as he prodded at his last piece of meat, for it was still a degree too hot to eat at the moment. 

"But," Yohan scratched his head, "the doctor said something's hard to explain." Wooseok reached over the table and placed a reassuring hand over Yohan's. 

"I'm sure it's nothing, doctor's just confuse themselves with all that they do." He leaned over into Yohan's ear whispering, "Now stop talking about it, you're going to make Minhee cry again." Yohan looked up at Minhee who was staring back at him with sad wide eyes and pout as if any other negative word out of Yohan's mouth would send him into tears. Jessica seemed to sense the growing tension. 

"Minhee look you're almost done your soup! If you finish it then we can go visit Eunsang okay?" Minhee's face brightened up again. 

"Okay!" He held the bowl up to his lips to slurp up the remains of his broth. Jessica smiled at the sight and walked away to get ready. 

_**There's no way that doctor has good news for us,**_ Jessica frowned as she looked out of her room to see her nephews walking down the hall to prepare as well, _**hopefully, it's not as bad as it could be.**_

~

"Excited?" Jessica asked as she put her seatbelt on.

"Yes!" The excitement was evident in the air, but also, a hint of concern.

Yohan still couldn't let the topic go, "Why did the doctor say that there was something else that happened to Eunsang?" Yohan scratched his chin in question.

"Maybe he lost a finger?" He received a smack on his arm for that answer.

"Seungyoun!" Wooseok covered Minhee's ears who seemed unfocussed on their conversation and leaned in. "He's too young to hear that!"

"*cough* sorry, I meant, maybe he can sleep with his eyes open now."

"That sounds cool!" Minhee clapped his hands at his brother's potential new talent.

"I don't want to think about it, let's play I, spy," Yohan suggested. "I spy with my little eyes, something black."

"Is it my nostrils?" Yohan snickered.

"Not this time Seungyoun!"

"Is it my hair?"

"Wrong, hyung!"

"That blackbird!" Minhee pointed at a crow flying in the sky.

"Right! You can choose something now Minhee!"

"I spy with my little eyes, something white!"

~

"I spy with my little eyes, something chestnut!"

"Chestnut?"

"Is it that boy over there in the chestnut brown shirt?" Wooseok pointed out a young boy walking into the hospital with a chestnut-coloured shirt.

"How did you know hyung?"

"Seungyoun, you're obsessed with chestnuts how would I not know," Seungyoun grumbled and took off his seatbelt, they had arrived.

"We're here now boys!" Jessica opened the side door and stood back. The boys bounced as they got out of the car, excited to see Eunsang. Woosek followed behind, limping on his crutches while Jessica held Hyeongjun.

"I hope you guys are ready." They all walked in, the hospital seemed bigger and more high tech than a Busan hospital could ever be.

As they walked towards the desk, Jessica was sure that she was the only one nervous as the boys chatted excitedly over meeting their brother again. 

_**Paralysis? Organ Damage? Oh no did he receive brain damage?** _Jessica gritted her teeth_** My nephews seem okay right now so maybe I should try to be positive too, maybe the surgery just took longer because there were more wounds, but I'm sure he's fine. **_

"Is Mr. Han going to die?" The chestnut-coloured shirt boy was at the front desk with his mom, he was looking up at her sadly with tearful eyes.

"Don't worry Gyul-ah, I'm sure he's fine, let's go visit his room." A woman to seemed to be his mother led him away by the hand and Jessica stepped up to the receptionist.

"Hello! I'm here to check in on Hwang Eunsang." The receptionist opened her mouth but a shout from a passerby cut her off.

"Ahh! Ms.Jung!" Jessica turned to the source of the voice, a doctor was approaching them. "I'm the person on the phone, Dr.Kim. I was on the way to visit Eunsang's room."

"Nice to meet you!" Jessica shook his hand and bowed. "Now, about Eunsang's condition?"

"Ah yes!" Dr.Kim pulled out a clipboard and flipped to a section. "Do you know what happened to Eunsang?" 

Jessica wrapped her arms around her nephews' shoulders, "No we don't."

"He suffered a gunshot to his right shoulder. The same bullet also caused two panels of glass to shatter and their impact severely cut multiple areas on Eunsang's body. This caused an extreme blood loss that put him in critical condition." The doctor flipped the page over.

"The glass seemed to do a number on Eunsang considering his age, he has several stitches on his face and neck, but since these areas can heal cuts fairly quickly the stitches should be gone in a week and the majority of the cuts healed in a month or two." He ran his finger down the page.

"Since the bullet was still intact in his shoulder, we removed it and applied a few metal plates because his shoulder was fractured." Minhee tugged on Wooseok's sleeve. 

"Hyung I don't understand what he's saying." Wooseok patted Minhee's head. "The doctor's saying that Eunsang is okay now." Minhee smiled at the clarification. 

"And one more thing, but I don't think I should say it yet." Jessica raised an eyebrow, one hand began fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"Why? Something bad?" 

"Not the worst thing, and I've only dealt with this once before, but I feel you should see it when he wakes up before I explain than the other way around."

"That's fine, are we allowed to see him?"

"Why yes of course! Follow me!" They followed him down the hall.

Loud shouting came from one room.

"HE'S DEAD!" A little boy was sobbing loudly.

"Shh Gyul, it's okay." The same pair of voices from before caused them to flinch. The doctor was unfazed. "One day I had to stop taking all those deaths personally." The doctor leaned over and whispered into Jessica's ear, she nodded knowingly and turned around to give the boys a reassuring smile. "It's okay boys."

"And this is the room." The doctor announced as they stopped in front of the room at the end of the hall. "Oh wait." The doctor removed his hand from the doorknob and turned back to them. "Don't do anything aggressive or such, you can touch him but he's very frail right now so don't do anything that will cause one of the stitches to break or force a metal plate to displace itself.."

After receiving nods of understanding, he opened the door for them.

"Eunsang!" The kids ran in, stopping themselves immediately after remembering the doctor's words.

He was paler then he's ever been, likely from all the recent blood loss. Eunsang could've blended in with the white walls of the room if it weren't for the light blue blanket that gave his character a little bit of life. Wooseok felt himself grimace at the stitches across Eunsang's face and neck, he could count over 10 in total. He carefully slid down the side of Eunsang's hospital gown to reveal another set of stitches to recover the area where metal plates were inserted.

He was sleeping peacefully, but all the stitches on his face said otherwise. His heart monitor beat steadily with his slow breaths.

"He was awake just a while ago, but we induced him with sleep medication so that he can restfully for the first day."

"So he'll wake up tomorrow?"

"Yes that's how long we planned, but you are free to stay overnight if you'd like."

"I don't know." Jessica glanced at her nephews. "We still have a lot to unpack, maybe we'll just come back early tomorrow."

"No!" They were all protesting.

"I guess we'll stay overnight."

"Perfect! I'll get the nurses to bring in a few more seats and a little carriage for the baby." The doctor left the room.

"So many booboos..." Minhee's finger darted out to poke at the stitches curiously.

"Don't." Wooseok stopped Minhee's finger, "That might hurt him."

Jessica felt her phone vibrate, the boys needed alone time with their brother, so she excused herself.

"Hello?" Jessica answered the phone.

"Hello Ms. Jung, it's Minhyuk." Jessica's eyes lit up

"Oh! Minhyuk! Do you have any news for me?"

"I do, I was able to get a lead on the location of your sister."

"That's great! I knew she wasn't dead!" Jessica smiled.

"I can't guarantee if she's still alive, but I've tracked her location to be somewhere in Daegu."

"Ahh thank you Minhyuk! Anything else?"

"Not, for now, Ms. Jung, I'll continue searching. Have a nice day."

"You too Minhyuk." Jessica put her phone back in her pocket and smiled, things were finally looking up at least. She walked back to the room.

Everything was set up while she was gone, and the boys were all looking at Eunsang silently.

Jessica found the scene inspirational, she pulled out her sketchbook and started drawing up clothing ideas that flashed into her mind. With satin ribbons and lace accents, any clothing line would surely love such an innocent and pure concept.

~~

After a hospital cafeteria dinner, observing Eunsang some more and watching t.v. A nurse came and provided toothbrushes and toothpaste so that they could freshen up for bed.

Jessica found it amusing that her nephews lined up in age order as they brushed their teeth in front of the mirror, she brushed Hyeongjun's little growing teeth very gently. She also called one of her friends to go to her apartment to find some pyjamas for the boys, it was dropped off and after changing clothes, they were ready for bed.

They brought the chairs beside Eunsang's bed and they rested their heads beside his body.

"Goodnight Eunsang."

"Goodnight Auntie Sica." They all said together, then eventually they dozed off. Jessica rocked Hyeongjun in her arms until he was sound asleep as well and placed him in the provided carriage.

She kissed each of their heads, settling into her chair in the corner, and fell asleep too.

~~~

Jessica woke up to hushed whispers.

"Yay! He's doing it again hyung!" Minhee sounded cheerful. 

"Shhh, don't wake up our aunt." Wooseok tried to calm him down.

She opened her eyes slowly and it seemed they woke up hours ago, lively and awake.

"Look, Auntie Sica is awake!" Minhee sat in her lap.

"Eunsang's arm has been twitching for the last 10 minutes," Wooseok informed her.

"That means he'll wake up soon!"

"Or we can just yell at him to wake up, HYU-."

"Yohan shut it!" Seungyoun smacked his palm over Yohan's lips, earning an angry grumble from the younger. 

"Fine." Yohan shoved Seungyoun's hand away from his mouth with a frown.

"Did you boys eat breakfast yet? It seems like you've been up a while." They shook their heads.

"Okay I'll go grab some breakfast from the cafeteria, be back soon~" Jessica left the room.

"His other arm moved!" Minhee exclaimed.

"Ngh..." A garbled mumble escaped Eunsang's lips and his eyes twitched.

"He's waking up!" They all excitedly peered closer at his face. The pair of eyes slowly opened up. Darting around dazed and confused.

"Eunsanggie!" They pulled him into a tight group hug.

"What's happening?" Eunsang was still in a haze of confusion.

"We can explain later how do you feel?" Wooseok thread his fingers into his hair.

"Okay? I think. But I feel sore..." Minhee grasped Eunsang's hand. 

"I'm happy to see hyung awake again!" He wiggled Eunsang's wrist in excitement, the movement tickling him as his skin had grown sensitive due to a lack of contact. Eunsang let out a laugh.

And that's when everyone saw it, as he laughed only one corner of his lips turned upward, leaving his mouth at an awkward angle.

~~~~

"Mmm good nothing seems to be wrong." The doctor had arrived for his shift after Jessica returned with breakfast and was checking to make sure there were no other signs of injury on Eunsang. "And this is what was hard to explain earlier."

The doctor motioned to one of the stitches above the upper right corner of Eunsang's lip.

"See, a piece of glass must've been able to severely damage one of Eunsang's facial nerves, it's a minor form of facial paralysis which essentially means that he won't be able to smile properly."

"Oh." Eunsang frowned at it, but he seemed to be taking the situation well.

"It is possible to fix this, on our last case we moved one of the patient's thigh muscles up to the damaged nerve which allowed her to smile again." Eunsang's eyes lit up.

"However Eunsang is still young, and his body isn't fully developed yet, so I'd like to wait several years before his thigh muscle is fully developed at least."

"And when do you plan on that doctor?"

"Honestly around 10-15 years, males finish puberty later than females and I want to when he's at the end or almost done with puberty." Eunsang's hope faltered.

"How about these?" Eunsang pointed to his stitches.

"They should be fully healed and gone in a month or two." Eunsang seemed happy again.

"Now I'd like Eunsang to stay in the hospital for a week, so the cuts should be closed enough that we will be able to remove the stitches and then he can recover at home."

"Sorry, boys we can't stay that long." All his brothers whined the thought of not being with Eunsang all the time was unbearable.

"Don't worry I'll make sure we visit him every day." They were content with that idea.

They stayed until the mid-afternoon with Eunsang.

"Bye Eunsanggie." Each of his brothers gave him a reluctant hug but their aunt was waiting by the door so they couldn't stay forever.

"Bye-bye." Eunsang smiled his lopsided smile at them as they left.

~~~

They returned to the apartment to unpack everything that they brought.

"Hyung have you seen.-"

"Here it is." Wooseok picked out Minhee's stuffed bear from one of the boxes.

"Thanks, hyung!" Minhee hugged his bear and tucked it under his arm to continue unpacking.

"They should be here any minute," Jessica muttered under her breath, she had gotten some professional movers to pick up the boys' beds and a few other things they couldn't carry back from Busan.

Her cellphone rang.

"Oh, it must be them!" She picked up the phone without looking at the number.

"Hi, Jessica! It's Yoona."

"Oh, Yoona! I wasn't expecting your call, anything you need?"

"Seongwoo's been begging for the last hour to talk to Wooseok, do you mind if he does?"

"Sure just give me a sec." Jessica heard a cheer from the other line as she pulled the phone away from her ear and walked up to Wooseok. She passed the phone with a quiet "its Seongwoo." And walked away.

"Hi, Seongwoo hyung."

"Wooseok! How are you feeling?"

"My leg's a little sore and so is my head, but I didn't need the crutches anymore."

"That's good! How's everyone else?" Wooseok smiled to himself, it felt nice to have someone else check up on him. He droned on about Eunsang's current condition, how his brother's feelings. Seungwoo listened thoughtfully, trying to comfort him through it all and gradually transitioning the conversation to more light-hearted topics such as popular t.v shows.

Eventually, the phone beeped and Seongwoo whined out loud, "Awwww, I don't think noona charged her phone long enough, it's gonna die soon." Wooseok could feel the other's pout over the line.

"Aw, it's okay we'll talk again soon~ Bye hyung."

"Bye Wooseok, I hope we'll see each other soon!" Wooseok frowned as he handed the phone back, he wished that Jinhyuk was on there too.

"No Yohan, I want to sleep in that corner!"

"That corner will be mine Seungyoun hyung!" Wooseok sighed, sometimes it was a handful settling down those two.

(Neither of them won and Wooseok gave the corner to Minhee)

***Later that night***

Wooseok's eyes shot open as he heard a quiet whimper. An almost unnoticeable sound but it caught his attention. He climbed out of bed and walked into the room across the hall where Seungyoun, Yohan, and Minhee slept.

_ ***sniff**sniff*** _

"Shhhhh it's okay." Wooseok's eyebrows perked at the sound of Seungyoun's voice, he noticed Seungyoun's head peeking out over the edge of the bed so he looked over the bed to investigate. Minhee was crying on Seungyoun's lap, clutching a teddy bear to his chest and tears trickling down his cheek as he tried hiding the sounds of his sadness into the teddy bear.

"Minhee...." Seungyoun gently rubbed Minhee's back until his crying softened. Then held him up against his chest and let him cry the rest out. Just how his father used to hold Minhee.

"I_***sniff***_ I-i miss A-appa and u-umma." Minhee stuttered into Seungyoun's neck.

"I know, Minhee, but remember I said he's watching over you." Minhee sobbed harder at the fact.

"But you said they'll visit and- and they haven't visited me." Minhee sniffed again. "I want to see them...."

"I'm sorry Minhee, maybe they're still getting used to his new place. Maybe they have lots of things to move, remember it took us a while to move our stuff into Auntie Sica's house." Minhee nodded.

"Should I go visit them instead then?" Seungyoun patted Minhee's head. 

"Sure, how about we try visiting them tonight?" Minhee smiled softly.

"Let's go _***sniff***_ now _***sniff***_ please." Seungyoun let out a light laugh.

"Now now, don't rush into it Minhee, first we have to close our eyes and then when we go to their house, maybe they'll only want to see us when they're finished their house so that it's all nice and beautiful." 

"That's okay hyung, we'll still try." Seungyoun stood up and held Minhee's hand.

"Come on now, let's get to bed, maybe they'll be waiting for us." Minhee's smile grew wider.

"Okay!" Wooseok grinned from behind the door, wiping a tear forming in his eye as he watched Minhee clutch onto Seungyoun as they both settled into bed. As if Seungyoun was his last hope in seeing their parents.

"Can you sing me a song hyung?" Minhee looked up at Seungyoun again.

"Umma's song?"

"Mhmm..." 

"Wooseok knows it better than me but I'll try." Seungyoun thread his fingers through Minhee's hair as a quiet but warm melody filled the room.

"Wooseok?" Wooseok looked up from his spot at the door. His aunt was standing beside him and her gaze softened upon seeing your face.

"Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it." Wooseok stuttered and wiped away the last of his tears.

"I-it's nothing." Jessica chose to drop the topic. After all, the boys were going through a tough time and maybe wouldn't want to revisit the past. 

"You should go to sleep, honey. You still need to heal."

"But I was watching Minhee, he was crying." Wooseok gestured to Seungyoun and Minhee together

"It's okay Wooseok, Seungyoun's got it covered so it's best you rest."

"They're not fully asleep yet, I just want to make sure Minhee doesn't cry again." Jessica let out a soft sigh when Wooseok seemed adamant on making sure his brothers would be okay.

"If you say so Wooseok. Goodnight." His aunt drifted back into the darkness of the halls.

Eventually, Minhee was snoring lightly on Seungyoun's chest. Wooseok smiled to himself and tiptoed to the duo

"We'll get through this together." He whispered in Minhee's ear. As Wooseok left the room, Minhee smiled.

~~~~~~A Few Days Later in Busan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jinhyuk frowned as he was in the back in the cafe cleaning the baking area. All because of his mom.

After her first check-up with the doctor a couple of days ago, she was advised not to work as much as usual to avoid a miscarriage. So she took advantage, spoiling her favourite son and taking him out while forcing the "runt" to work.

"I'm going out with Joonmyeon, make yourself useful and take these cleaning supplies and scrub the oven, counters, and floor in the kitchen. At least it'll help you lose some weight."

Jinhyuk wanted to go visit the orphanage at least, but he knew Taeyeon would review the security footage if she was suspicious and knew he left.

"Jinhyuknie~" His dad was at the doorway of the kitchen. He was seldom home, but Jinhyuk appreciated his company when he did bother to exist in his life. "Why are you working so hard?" Baekhyun wiped some sweat off of his son's forehead.

"Umma told me to do it."

"Aish....... Don't worry you've done enough, it looks brand new, wants to go out for some bubble tea?" Jinhyuk's face lit up at that suggestion.

"Yeah! ... But won't Umma get mad at me?"

"It's okay, must be the baby getting to her. Don't worry I'll cover for you if she does get mad." Baekhyun winked at him and led him out the cafe to his car.

~

Baekhyun smiled at his son happily slurping the bubble tea.

"Is it good?" Jinhyuk nodded.

"That's good, now I have a question for you." Jinhyuk hummed in response as his mouth was full of bubbles.

"Your mother's been expressing a lot of interest in moving to Seoul, something about politics and creating a bigger fortune by expanding our cafe, I know you may not want to move but-"

"Okay." Baekhyun quirked his eyebrow at his son.

"Really? I thought you'd need a little persuading."

"Yes, it's fine."_** And maybe I'll get to see Wooseok again**_ Jinhyuk thought.

"Oh perfect, I'm just preparing you for when your mother really does want to move, I feel like she may yell at you right away about moving." Baekhyun patted his sons' shoulder. "Want ice cream after that?"

He laughed at his sons' enthusiastic nod.

So when his mother did yell at him a month later that they were moving, he took the box out of her hands with a smile and started packing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I let more than a week pass my bad TT
> 
> I rewrote that bed scene with Seungyoun and Minhee as I was editing this and I highkey love it
> 
> I'm actually struggling rn to plan out the rest of the story so that's fun~
> 
> I don't think I have anything else to say LOL but please tell me if you see any mistakes in my writing, it'll really help.
> 
> Also, don't hesitate to leave a kudos or comment <3 we love those~~~


	8. Prologue Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, the hardest thing is saying goodbye~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so late I'm sorry ;(
> 
> I'm still working on adjusting to university work, so this chapter is kind of trash but I hope you'll like it~

As promised, they visited everyday, and as promised by Dr.Kim, Eunsang had his stitches removed and took his first steps into his aunt's apartment a week later.

Over the next month, his cuts slowly faded away, only the scar on his shoulder remained to remind him of that terrible day.

But their aunt and Wooseok did fairly well helping them get over it and move on. Jessica always tried to distract them with the happier things in life, like ice cream and amusement parks. While Wooseok was there when their minds did flash back to painful memories. Jessica never knew what Wooseok did since he always wanted to be alone with his brothers when they cried but he must've been doing it right since they always seemed to be happy and cheery the next day.

It seemed to be the hardest for Minhee, he cried every night, but it was becoming less frequent and it made Wooseok glad.

So when they all seemed emotionally stable, Jessica registered them for the local elementary school, education was still important. After hearing their story the principal was more then willing to let them in despite being a month late.

Minhee and Hyeongjun were still too young and would stay at home with Jessica while she worked.

The first day she brought them all in, their respective teachers were standing by the office eagerly waiting for the boys' that they've heard so much about it.

"Hyungs!" Minhee wasn't used to the idea and upset about seeing all his hyungs leaving him. He was crying and making grabby hands but Jessica had to keep a firm hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine Minhee, look you still have Hyeongjun." She lowered Hyeongjun down in front of Minhee, oblivious to the tears, Hyeongjun clapped happily upon seeing his brother.

"B-but what if h-hyungs l-leave forever?"

"No we won't Minhee." Wooseok gave him a kiss on his forehead. "You'll see us soon don't worry."

"P-pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise." Wooseok curled his pinky with Minhee's shaky one, he left with a hug and followed his teacher down the hall. The other three gave him a hug and left as well. Minhee still looked sad as the trio left the school.

"You'll get to go to school next year Minhee." Minhee liked the sound of it and his mood changed almost immediately. Jessica laughed watching her nephew skip to the car.

And when school was finished, Jessica was glad to see all the boys okay. She was a little nervous about how Eunsang's classmates were going to react to his smile but he couldn't stop smiling and talking about how cool they thought it was so she was okay with it. She thought she was.

~~~

Jessica didn't have a good feeling when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket.

She was grocery shopping with Minhee and Hyeongjun while the others were at school. She grimaced at the identity of the school calling.

"Hello?"

"Hi Ms. Jung, are you available to come to the school?" It was the principal.

"What happened?" Jessica watched Minhee try to sneakily add a bucket of ice cream to the cart.

"There was a physical dispute."

"I'll be on my way." She'll let the ice cream slide this time. She rushed the cart to check out, she had finished most of the shopping anyways. She got in her van with the other two and left for the school.

~

She stopped as she was about to enter the principals office.

"Mmmmm I shouldn't take you guys in." She left Minhee and Hyeongjun with the secretary. Who cooed at the little bundle of fluff in her arms and passed Minhee a small box of children's books and toys. Satisfied with the scene, Jessica knocked on the door.

"Come in." She walked in to see Wooseok sitting in one chair, unharmed. However the boy on the other side had a bloody nose and a black eye, and his mother was trying to console him on the other side. "Good afternoon Ms. Jung."

"Can someone explain to me what happened." Jessica sat beside Wooseok.

"Your son assaulted my son!" The other woman got up and pointed an accusing finger at Jessica.

"He's my nephew, I want to know why he did."

"According to students in the hall and a teacher that witnessed it, Wooseok did attack Himchan first."

"I'm going to sue you for this!"

"Please calm yourself Mrs.Kim." The woman sat back down.

"Now I think I know what happened but we're going to have to ask someone else. Hey Eunbi." The principal contacted the secretary through a device on his desk.

"Look at you Hyeongjun, you're so cute OH! Mr. Yoo, what can I get you." Jessica could practically feel the secretaries embarrassment.

"Please send Hwang Eunsang to my office."

"Sure sir *click* Excuse the interruption. Can Hwang Eunsang come to the office. Thank you. *click* All done, he should be there in a minute."

"Thank you Eunbi."

"You're welcome........ That word Minhee? It says beautiful, let's sound it out Bee-yoo-tee-ful. Good!" The principal laughed at his secretary.

"Turn off your microphone Eunbi."

"Oh my god I'm so sorry, oh are you Eunsang. **""Eunsang Hyung!"** "Yes Eunsang Mr. Yoo is waiting for you in his office, go ahead." Eunbi switched off her microphone as Eunsang poked his head inside. All it took for him was to make eye contact with Himchan for a second before he ran out of the office.

Mr. Yoo pressed his lips into a tight line, his theory seemed to be correct.

"Hmm I don't want to come to a conclusion yet." He flipped on his microphone again. "Eunbi." 

"Come back! Minhee do you want to go get your brother? Go ahead but be careful. Yes Mr.Yoo?" 

"Send me the security camera recording for the hallway by the lower floor bathroom from the last hour."

"Of course! We had the microphones installed last week, would you also like the audio for the video?

"Yes Eunbi, the audio and video."

"It should be fully uploaded to your computer in two minutes."

"Thanks Eunbi."

"Eunsang's back do you want him to come in or..."

"He can stay there with his brother."

"Okay, thanks." The voice cut out again. Mr. Yoo typed a few things on his computer, turning the monitor over to everyone else in the room after a minute.

"Now I haven't seen the footage but shall we watch it?'

"Anything to prove how victimized my son is!" Himchan's mother exclaimed.

"Very well." Mr.Yoo flipped on the recording.

_ ** "Come on! Smile! I want to see how ugly you look!" Himchan had Eunsang cornered against the wall with a couple of his other friends. ** _

_ **Eunsang muttered in rejection and shook his head.** _

_ **"Let's beat it out of him!" ** _

_ **"Good idea!" Himchan kicked Eunsang in the stomach, drawing a yelp out of him and forcing him onto the ground. "Are you going to show us that ugly smile or do you want another kick?"** _

_ **"Don't lay another finger on him!" Wooseok showed up in the corner of the screen. ** _

_ **"Come and make me!" It didn't take another second before Wooseok leaped at him. Himchan's friends tried to pull Wooseok off of Himchan as he repeatedly punched his face. A teacher who was passing by ran over and got Wooseok off of Himchan.** _

_ **"Don't you dare hurt my brother again!" Wooseok shouted as the teacher dragged him off screen. Eunsang sat scared in the corner as another teacher appeared on the screen to help Eunsang.** _

Mr. Yoo closed the recording and quirked his eyebrow towards Himchan's mom. 

"See! He beat my son up!" 

"And you didn't see what your son was doing previously?" His mother was tongue tied. The principal turned on his microphone. "Eunbi can you send Eunsang to the school nurse and tell her to check on his abdominal area."

"Of course Mr. Yoo! Come on Eunsang, let's go to the nurse! Yes Minhee can come too....... oh and I should bring cute little Hyeongjun." Mr. Yoo turned back to them after shutting off his microphone. 

"It's against the school rules to bully someone, but it is also bad to physically hurt someone. But since Himchan committed both of those I'll give him 2 months of detention." His mother was flabbergasted. "You can't do that!"

"Oh yes I can, if you don't leave with him now I'll suspend him for a few days." She angrily got up and left with Himchan. "You're a terrible principle!"

"And you're a terrible mother!" He fired back as the door closed. He looked back to Jessica and Wooseok. 

"Is Wooseok getting detention too?" 

"I understand where he's coming from and the reasons for his actions but fighting isn't the answer. And I'm sure you don't have the time for him to stay after school for a detention. So here." Mr. Yoo opened one of his drawers, dug into it deeply, and passed two pages to Wooseok. "You can fill out these reflection sheets on your actions and bring them to me tomorrow, then you won't have detention." He gave the two of them a wink.

"Oh thank you Mr. Yoo." Jessica bowed graciously. Wooseok gave a tiny bow as well. 

"It's my pleasure, your nephew reminds me of my chilldhod self." He placed his hand on Wooseok's shoulder. "Now if anyone tries to bully Eunsang or your other brothers just come tell me okay? Or else I'll make you fill out another reflection sheet if you hit them."

"Thank you, you must've been through a lot today, you can take him home now if you want Ms. Jung."

"That would be nice."

"Do you want to take your other newphews home as well?" 

"Yes." Mr.Yoo pressed a green button before turning on his microphone _**"May Hwang Seungyoun and Hwang Yohan please come to the office, and bring your belongings." **_

After the other two arrived, they all left Mr.Yoo and headed to the nurses office to visit Eunsang while Wooseok filled the duo in on what happened. 

"Pfft really? Your classmate tried to beat up someone 6 years younger then him? How pathetic." Seungyoun guffawed and received a slap from Yohan.

"What if Eunsang is really hurt?" 

"Knowing how pathetic that Himchan guy is he probably tickled Eunsang with his foot." 

"You're right!" The two ended up laughing until they reached the door of the nurses' office, both faces turning into worry as they got a peek at Eunsang who was looking down on the bed. 

"He wouldn't let me check." The nurses said. "But I let Minhee do the checkup instead and it doesn't seem to be anything bad. Just a light bruise that's delicate to touch. Just don't roughhouse with him and he should be fine." 

"That's great! Let's go home and Auntie Sica will make her famous kimchi stew to make you feel better." Eunsang immediately ran up to Wooseok and hugged him. It was only when Wooseok lifted his chin up did he realize that he was crying.

"T-thanks for h-helping me h-hyung."

"Of course Eunsang." Wooseok patted his back. "And if someone wants to make fun of you again tell hyung and he'll beat them up." 

"No, he'll tell the principal so he doesn't get detention." Jessica reminded him. 

As a kind gesture, the nurse handed the boys lollipops and they were on there way out of the school.

_ ****Later that night**** _

_ **WAHHH!** _

Jessica lazily slapped the baby monitor off, must be time for one of Hyeongjun's feedings. She climbed out of bed after a minute and walked to the kitchen to grab a bottle of the premade formula. 

"Isn't that good Hyeongjun?" Jessica stopped when she entered. Wooseok was already there feeding Hyeongjun with a tired grin.

"Wooseok you're awake?" The said boy took notice of his aunt and smiled at her. "It's late Auntie Sica why don't you go off to bed?" 

"I should be saying the same thing it's 3am!"

"It's fine I know you're tired from taking care of all of us." 

"Oh Wooseok...." Jessica gazed at how content Hyeongjun looked in Wooseok's arms. "You know you're a really good big brother." 

"I try my best." 

"I can tell they all look up to you."

"Thanks." 

"Are you sure you don't want me to take over? You must be tired." 

"I'm fine, tomorrow's Saturday anyways, I'll just be sleeping a bit longer." 

"If you say so Wooseok, good night." Jessica walked back to her room and climbed into bed. 

She left her bedroom door open so that she could listen to Hyeongjun's soft giggles and mumbles to the quiet, sweet nothings Wooseok whispered in his ear.

~~~~~

Jinhyuk rubbed his hands together anxiously as he made his way to the orphanage. He hadn't told Seungwoo and Byungchan about leaving yet and he was already leaving tomorrow. Stuck in a constant cycle of worrying, Jinhyuk didn't want to see his friends possibly lash out at him for leaving them, so he kept pushing off the news until the last minute. As much as he didn't want to tell them, it was now inevitable. 

"Jinhyuk!" Byungchan waved over to Jinhyuk enthusiastically. 

Seungwoo and Byungchan were sitting on a bench in the backyard, awaiting his arrival. Seungwoo handed Jinhyuk a warm glass of milk with a smile and placed a plate of chocolate chips cookies in between them. 

"How's life treating you bud?" Jinhyuk bit his lip as Seungwoo's smile grew wider, expecting a vivid description of the past days they haven't seen each other. Byungchan and Seungwoo were always so selfless for Jinhyuk, willing to listen to his burdens, it seemed like a crime to shatter their trust by withholding his secret from them.

"You know, typical things with my mom and brother, my dad's been disappearing more frequently." Seungwoo nodded his head. "Anything else?" 

"I've been busy...." 

"Busy with what?" Byungchan asked. Jinhyuk laughed nervously and grabbed a cookie, hoping to stall some time as he tried to come up with an answer. He became distracted with the sweetness of the chocolate on his tongue until Seungwoo cut through his thought process.

"You're leaving us right?" Caught off guard, Jinhyuk started choking his cookie. Seungwoo quickly ushered Jinhyuk's glass of milk down his throat to wash away the cookie.

"How *cough* do you know?" Jinhyuk sputtered.

"We saw the boxes outside of your house." 

_ **"Look at the balloons on that house Seungwoo!" Byungchan excitedly pointed at a colorful arrangement of balloons in someone's backyard, evident of a party that likely transpired. Seungwoo exhaled in awe at how elaborate the decorations seemed. "I wish noona could put out that many balloons on my birthday...." ** _

_ **Seungwoo pulled the wagon to distance themselves from the house, he already knew where Byungchan was going with this.** _

_ **"I wish I had a family to give me a big birthday party." Byungchan sniffled at the thought.** _

_ **"Byunggie, look, even if no one adopts you, I'll throw you a big and beautiful birthday party when I have money." Byungchan beamed at him. ** _

_ **"Thanks Seungwoo, I'll be fine as long as your by my side." Byungchan's gaze grew softer as he continued to stare at him. Ignoring the thoughts that began to invade his mind, he brought attention to another topic.** _

_ **"Oh hey, we're on Jinhyuk's street, let's see if he's awake!" Seungwoo nodded ** _

_ **"That sounds good, he hasn't visited us the last two days, he may even have the flu." They headed for the cafe, knowing well that Jinhyuk lived above it. As Seungwoo pulled the wagon to the back of the building, he became puzzled at the large cardboard boxes that grew more visible as he drew closer. ** _

"_**Why are there so many boxes Byungcha-"**_

_ **"Wait, look." Byungchan pointed to a large truck that was parked by the backyard.** _

_ ***The Seoul Moving Company*** _

_ **"Wait a second." Seungwoo exchanged a knowing glance with Byungchan who grew visibly upset.** _

_ **"Why didn't he tell us?" Byungchan's voice trembled. ** _

_ **"Channie...." Seungwoo sat beside Byungchan and encircled him in a hug, "I think we both saw this coming, we know his parent's cafe has gotten more popular, it's all over news, it's about time they tried to expand on their fortune."** _

_ **"But that doesn't explain why he didn't tell us." Byungchan said.** _

_ **"I think he was scared." Seungwoo said, "He was scared that we would hate him for leaving, and he didn't want to leave Busan on a sour note, but he's not thinking it through." He sighed, "Even if he ended up not telling us, I'm sure we would both be angry at him for disappearing without a farewell." ** _

_ **"Then what can we do Seungwoo?" Byungchan asked.** _

_ **"We wait for him to tell us." ** _

_ **"And if he doesn't?"** _

_ **"We'll tell him."** _

"I'm sorry." Tears welled in Jinhyuk's eyes, "You're mad aren't you?" 

"We are." Seungwoo said with a glare. Jinhyuk's eyes widened, the tears started to trickle down his cheeks. Seungwoo's gaze softened at him and he let out a small laugh. He came to Jinhyuk and wiped his tears. "Well we were mad when we found out, but we've had the time to think about it and at the end of the day, we get it." 

"Yeah Jinhyuk," Byungchan rested his chin on Jinhyuk's shoulder,"We know how popular your parents' business is, it's not like they would stay here forever." 

"Especially with a mother that has that kind of attitude." Seungwoo mumbled under his breath. 

"What?"

"Nothing." 

"I'm really sorry I didn't tell you." Seungwoo patted Jinhyuk's back. "Don't worry about it. But I am going to miss you." 

"Me too." 

"Hey," Byungchan plopped his head onto Jinhyuk's lap and looked up at him with a smile, "Try not to look so down, we'll keep in touch yes?"

"I'll try..." Jinhyuk never had any other way to talk with his friends, he wasn't allowed to have a phone or computer. Byungchan feigned ignorance to the known information and maintained his positive demeanor. "Can we just stay like this for a while?"

"Sure." 

"Yeah!" And with that, they all slowly doze off to meet each other one last time in the land of dreams. To escape reality for one more night.

~~~~

Jinhyuk woke to a stream of sunshine filling his vision. Seungwoo was looking at him silently, offering him a small smile.

"Rise and shine, it's time to go isn't it?" Jinhyuk nodded. 

"Here, we'll walk with you." Seungwoo ushered Byungchan awake, and after letting the younger regain his senses, Seungwoo placed him in the wagon and they began their trek down the road.

The journey was filled with a loud silence, a desire to say so many things, shot down by the refusal to acknowledge that this may be their last conversation. 

When they reached the house, they could see Jinhyuk's dad standing in the backyard talking on the cellphone "Well Jinhyuk, this is where it ends." Seungwoo brought him into a hug, Byungchan jumped up from the wagon and joined in. "But this is also the beginning of something new, we'll see you in Seoul." 

"Will we actually see each other in Seoul?" Seungwoo winked at him. 

"When we're old enough definitely."

"And we'll have the money to buy a house beside you!' Byungchan chimed in. He tried to display a bright grin but tears were already beginning to form.

"I....I'd love that." Jinhyuk's eyes turned red. 

"Now shoo," Seungwoo wiped a tear from his eye, "We can't keep you here forever." 

"I don't want to leave!" Jinhyuk grasped Seungwoo's hands but he was quickly shaken off.

"Jinhyuk, you're not like us, you probably have a bright future ahead of you." Seungwoo said.

"And we will only wish you the best." Byungchan said. After a moment of silence, Jinhyuk pulled himself together and began to walk towards the gate, trying to block out the shaky sniffles he heard behind him.

"Thank you, thank you for everything. I'll see you again." Jinhyuk smiled at them and made his way into the backyard. He lowered his gaze to prevent his dad from seeing him upset, his family didn't know about his friends. Baekhyun noticed Jinhyuk walking into the backyard and said farewell to whoever was on the phone with him, walking towards him.

"Don't worry, your mom stayed up late night packing so she's still sleeping." Jinhyuk nodded, keeping his gaze on the ground. Suddenly, Baekhyun knelt down in front of him and patted his shoulder. "I saw you with your friends over there and trust me, I moved a lot when I was younger and it was hard. You'll see them again as long as you want to see them again. I can guarantee it." 

Jinhyuk started to sob and Baekhyun engulfed him in a warm hug. His dad was always more considerate then his mother, she'd probably be yelling at him to man up if she saw him in his current state. He glanced over his dad's shoulder to see Seungwoo and Byungchan glumly walking towards the street corner. They both turned around and made eye contact with Jinhyuk with their own tearful eyes. With a final wave, they waved goodbye as Baekhyun carried Jinhyuk into the house.

"Will I really see them again appa?" Baekhyun nodded and ruffled Jinhyuk's hair. 

"Time flies by sometimes, you never know, a few years could fly by and when you see them again, it'll feel like you just saw them yesterday." 

_ **~~~~~~~2 years later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~** _

"Now Mrs. Kim, would you let us in your success." 

"Well it certainly wasn't luck." The two laughed on the T.V. "But all I did was work hard, expanding our cafes across the country." 

"That's really nice Mrs.Kim, but you must've had a few obstacles on your way to fortune, mind filling us in on any?" 

"Well there was one obstacle a couple of years ago, but I can't fill you in on that. But I was able to overcome and it's what allowed me to move to Seoul with my family to grow my business."

"Mrs.Kim that's lovely! Are you sure you don't want to fill us in on that obstacle?"

"Haha my lips are sealed." 

"Also congratulations on your acceptance into the National Assembly." The reporter offered a gentle round of applause.

"Thank you for the congratulations."

"How is that like Mrs.Kim? Balancing your cafe and political life?" 

"It may seem tiring, but it's very pleasant and there is no struggle whatsoever in balancing the two." 

"And if I'm correct you're married with 3 kids? How's that too." 

"You are correct, my family is doing great. My kids do enjoy watching over our cafes while my husband manages everything while I'm busy."

"There have been rumors going around that you plan to be president one day, is that true?"

"Why yes it is. Who wouldn't aspire to lead such a wonderful country."

"That's wonderful Mrs.Kim, oh looks like that's all the time we have for now." The reporter turned back to the camera.

"And there you have it folks, our lovely interview with affluent cafe owner and possible future president of South Korea, Kim Taeyeon has come to a close. Coming up next, A car pileup on highway 50 has occured, injury amounts will be broadcasted when received. So stay tuned." 

Jessica smiled, Kim Taeyeon seemed so wonderful, she remembered seeing her in her first cafe a couple of years ago in Busan. 

"Ahh I hope I get to see her again." Jessica walked to the living room. "Breakfast time!" Jessica called out. Immediatley 6 heads popped out of their rooms and raced for the kitchen. Hyeongjun tripped on his stubby legs but Jessica caught him. 

"Going too fast there little guy, let's get you seated in the kitchen." She carried Hyeongjun to the kitchen to see Yohan and Seungyoun fighting over the same chair again. 

"You got to sit here yesterday!" 

"You sat here for a whole week in a row!" 

"Calm down!" Wooseok's voice silenced them. "Yohan you sat there yesterday so Seungyoun can sit there." Yohan grumbled and sat beside Eunsang. 

"Aren't you all excited for school?" Jessica ruffled Wooseok's hair. "Are you excited for high school?" 

"Not really, I don't want to leave them." Wooseok looked glum. 

"Don't worry, I'm sure Seungyoun will do a good job watching them right?" 

"Of course!" Seungyoun sat up proudly.

They ate their breakfast happily, then they all loaded themselves into the van and took off. 

Everyone looked reluctant to leave Wooseok in the car. 

"Don't worry guys, I'm sure it'll be fine." They all left after hugging Wooseok, Seungyoun leading their group into the main doors of the elementary school. 

They pulled up in front of the high school. 

"You'll be okay Wooseok." Jessica gave his shoulder an assuring pat. "Do you want me to come out with you?" 

"It's okay." 

"Ba ba hyung!" Hyeongjun cheerfully called out. 

"Bye Hyeongjun, bye Auntie Sica." Jessica watched Wooseok enter the high school alone, it was definitely a foreign sight to see just one Hwang alone. 

"Ow...." Jessica clutched her chest again as it throbbed in pain. It had been like that the last couple of weeks. 

"I should really go see a doctor." She grumbled to herself, might as well do it today. "Hyeongjun what do you think about visiting the doctor?" Hyeongjun's eyes grew wide. 

"Fun!" Hyeongjun always liked seeing people. 

"Okay then we'll give the doctor a visit." Jessica revved up hr engine and drove in direction of the clinic, hoping to get a prescription for her chest pains.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoona sighed as she watched Seungwoo and Byungchan doing homework together in the kitchen. No one had adopted them yet she was getting worried that the government would kick them out of the orphanage in a couple of years. 

They acted happy but Yoona knew everytime another kid was adopted, she'd hear Byungchan's silent cries and Seungwoo's comforting whispers in the middle of the night when she got up to grab some water.

"How's the homework going?" Yoona placed a small plate of cookies in front of them.

"It's easy today, Noona?"

"Yes Seungwoo?"

"I want to talk to Wooseok..."

"I know I'm sorry." They used to have weekly chats, but after Yoona broke her phone and had to get a new one 8 months ago, she had lost Jessica's number.

"Here, a cookie will cheer you up." Byungchan shoved his unfinished half into Seungwoo's mouth. He gagged at the loose crumbs that shot into his throat.

"Thanks *cough* Byungchan."

"I'll tell you what, I'll go look for that sheet Jessica gave me, and if I can find it, I'll tell you so that you can call."

"That's great Noona! Hope you come back fast." Seungwoo called out to her as she left the kitchen.

Yoona practically trashed her room in search of that phone number, she was resting in her pile of belongings when someone rushed through the door.

"Noona!"

"Yes Junhyeok?"

"Junyoung fell and cut his knee."

"I''m a little busy, how about you go tell Seungwoo or Byungchan hyung so that they can help." The little boy nodded and ran out, slamming the door shut. The wind from by the slam caused a pile of papers in the corner of the room to scatter about.

''Aish...." Yoona reached over to organize the papers when her hand stopped at the tiny piece of paper in front of her. It was Jessica's phone number.

"Perfect." Yoona typed the number into her new phone, but she wasn't going to tell Seungwoo just yet, she had other intentions.........

~~~

**_It's been 2 years but I still can't find you..._.** A boy thought as he looked out the window sadly.

"KIM Jinhyuk!" The boy flinched at the source of the voice, he turned around slowly. Taeyeon was looking at him angrily. "Did you touch my computer?!?!?"

"No....."

"What's wrong?" Baekhyun appeared and placed his hand on Jinhyuk's shoulder. 

"Some of my files are gone!!" Taeyeon was pointing at a blank spot on the laptop she was holding. 

"Maybe they never existed?"

"Don't throw bullshit at me Baekhyun! But maybe they just got deleted." Taeyeon rubbed her forehead with her free hand. "But if someone gets their hands on those I'm-"

"You're what?" 

"It's nothing." Taeyeon stormed out of the room. 

~~~~~

Jessica felt weak as she plopped onto her couch. 

_ **"Ms.Jung I'm really sorry." The doctor in front of her scanned his papers. ** _

_ **"I know you've been on chemo for 6 months and the cancer seemed to be controlled . But for some reason it didn't disappear and it has now excelled to stage 3 and almost to stage 4." Jessica hung her down and started to cry, the boys didn't deserve this too. ** _

_ **"Do we have any other option?" ** _

_ **"No because surgery is way too life threatening for you at this point." ** _

_ **"So...How long?" ** _

_ **"You'll be lucky if you make it 3 months at the most Ms.Jung." ** _

_ **"I guess that's enough time." ** _

_ **"Do you still want to continue chemo maybe you'll last longer-"** _

_ **"No, it's pointless now." Jessica got up slowly, "Can you help me to my car?" ** _

_ **"Of course Ms.Jung." ** _

"They don't deserve this." Jessics took off her wig and looked at it shamefully. Her nephews didn't even know, she would wear her wig and apply enough foundation to make her skin look healthy. She used up all her daily energy to make them happy, and most days she handed Hyeongjun in the care of one of her friends because she was always too tired to watch over him after dropping the boys off at school. She just wished that she had received different results after she got her chest pain checked on Wooseok's first day of high school. 

_ **RINGGG!** _

Jessica reached for her cellphone and answered it.

"Hello?" She croaked out weakly.

"Hello is this Jung Jessica?

"Yes it is, why may you be calling?"

"This is the police....... we've happened to find someone who's in relation to you."

"And who may that be?"

"We've identified her as Hwang Tiffany." 

"MY SISTER!?!?"

"Yes but we have unfortunate news."

"What happened?" 

"She's dead."

Jessica's phone fell on the floor, she couldn't believe it, she spent so long searching for her and it all came to this. She didn't even have the energy to cry anymore.

"Hello? Hello?" She could still hear the officer's voice from the phone on the ground and picked it up. 

"Sorry, could you give me more details?" 

"Her body was found in the morning buried. A passing witness saw her hand sticking out of the ground while they were going for a jog. Would you like to come and see the body?"

"No._** I'll see her soon."**_

"Very well."

"Oh and one more thing officer."

"Anything I can do?"

"Do me a favor and don't release it on the news or media. I'd like this to be private." Jessica couldn't imagine the horror of the boys finding out, they had already grown accustomed to the idea that she was dead before so they didn't need this shock. 

"Fairly well, we'll keep it disclosed, anything else you want?" 

"No it's fine thank you." 

"One final thing Ms.Jung."

"It is also true that her husband died a couple of years ago?"

"Yes."

"And their children are legally under your care?"

"Yes." 

"We've been withholding the Hwang's fortune ever since the husband died because we were never sure if your sister was dead. But now that they've both been deceased we are transferring it to you.'

"Oh, thank you."

"We've sent a lawyer over to your place to organize everything."

"Yes thank you officer have a nice day." She was about to put the phone away until she saw the blinking notification in the corner,** new voicemail, **

She clicked on it. 

_ **"Hi Jessica, it's Yoona. Sorry for not talking for so long I changed my phone and lost your number. Ummmmmmm remember how you mentioned adopting Seungwoo and Byungchan? Well...... it's been a couple of years and they're still here. You know I'm just worried....... they're at that point where no one wants to adopt them because of their age and the government might kick them out soon. If you could do anything..... please. I won't pressure you, if you want to call me and talk about other things we can do that. Thanks, hope to see you soon Jessica!"** _

Jessica sighed and pulled the phone away from her ear. 

She was going to adopt them, but there was no way she would be allowed to do it in this condition

_ **knock knock** _

Jessica practically crawled to the door and opened it.

"Hello Ms. Jung, I was sent to transfer the Hwang's fortune to you. My name is Jinki."

"Oh hello." A smile played on her lips. "Could you perhaps help me with a few other things.

"Of course."

"Then come inside and make yourself feel at home, I have a few things to discuss."

Maybe she could get something to work.

_**Next time on I love you a Latte (One day I'm going to hurt you)**_:

"Why are the police here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I'm really sorry with how late this is :( I actually fell kind of sick this week due to overworking myself so that's definitely a wake up call to pull my scheduling together and hopefully it'll give me more time to write~
> 
> Quick question - The Prologue has 2 more parts, however I'm okay with combining the last two parts into 1 if you guys would like that, it'd just be longer, let me know what you think below~
> 
> Hopefully I'll see you guys quicker than 1 1/2 months ;p
> 
> <3


	9. Prologue Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me getting this up in 4 days xD, we are 2 chapters away from the end of the prologue! 
> 
> Please take the time to answer this poll : https://linkto.run/p/G1VSEOQJ <3

"You look tired Auntie Sica." Yohan gave her a worried look as she stepped out of her room. No foundation could ever conceal the tiredness in her eyes. 

"It's nothing Hannie. I've just been busy lately" She gave him a wide smile. "Don't you want to go play with one of your brothers?" 

"Oh yeah, I want to go try my new taekwondo moves on Seungyoun hyung." Yohan disappeared into his room with Seungyoun and Minhee.

"Spinning thunder kick!" Chaos ensued.

~~~~~

Jessica lowered herself to the floor slowly, she felt the strength leave her legs.

"Auntie Sica okay?" Eunsang crouched down beside her. 

"I just wanted to stretch my legs on the floor, do you want to try it?" Eunsang sat beside his aunt on the floor and spread his legs out. 

"It feels nice!" Eunsang's lopsided smile was contagious.

"That's good!" Jessica returned the smile. "Now you have more energy to play with Minhee." Eunsang had forgotten he was playing hide and seek.

"Minhee I'm coming!" He disappeared around the corner.

~~~~~

Hyeongjun pouted at her as she placed him in one of her friends' arms. 

"Don't leave." Tears welled in Hyeongjun's eyes.

"I'll be back in a few hours Hyeongjun, don't worry." Jessica gave a short peck on his forehead and left. She hated leaving Hyeongjun with someone else but the boys were at school and she had another meeting with Jinki. 

~~~~~

***cough**cough**cough**cough**cough***

Jessica pat her chest to try and stop the coughing while she was cooking. 

"Auntie are you sick? Don't you want to rest?" Wooseok shot her a concerned look from the side. 

"I'm** *cough**cough*** fine Wooseok** *cough**cough*cough*cough***."

"I can cook if you want."

"No** *cough*** it's** *cough*** okay** *cough***. I just ***cough**cough*** got pepper in** *cough*** my ***cough**cough*** throat ***cough*."**

"If you say so." Wooseok had a slight cold himself and didn't feel like arguing. But he distracted his brothers away from the kitchen so that they wouldn't hear her continuous coughs.

Something felt off about her, but Wooseok couldn't put his finger on it.

~~~~~

Jessica should've known it was happening today. 

It was the 3-month mark since her unfortunate meeting with the doctor.

Maybe she felt too energetic in the morning, too much of a skip in her step when she walked to the kitchen, too much dancing as she enjoyed the music streaming from the radio, and maybe her farewell to her nephews leaving to school was too loud, because all her energy left her at lunchtime. 

She thought it was going to be a good day so Hyeongjun was at home with her. 

She didn't see it coming, but before she knew it, all her legs gave out under her and she was on the floor. Hyeongjun was already crying as he looked at his pained aunt. Or maybe it was because her wig had fallen off from the fall and he was scared of her exposed head. 

"Is Auntie Ca *sniff* okay?" Hyeongjun tried dragging Jessica up but she was already gasping for air.

"Hyeongjun .. I.... I'm...okay."

"*sniff* Please Auntie Ca, I'm scared.. *sniff*. Hyeongjun continued to muster all his energy into lifting her up but the size difference was too much.

She silently prayed that her strength would return after a few minutes like it always did. But after hearing Hyeongjun wailing and trying to pull her up for 10 minutes, her lungs tighten further and the urge to close her eyes was unbearable.

It was the end. 

"H-h-Hyeongjun." Speaking was becoming a difficult task, but she hoped he would understand her hand motioning towards her cellphone. Luckily he did and pushed it towards her hand. 

Mustering all the energy she could, she got her finger to turn on her phone and activate the emergency number she had kept on the lock screen in case it happened. Her finger also managed to hit the speaker button. 

**"Hello this is 119, please state your emergency." **

"h-h--h-h-h-he-e-e-el.-l-l--p-p-p." The plea was long and drawn out but the operator seemed to grasp the situation, Hyeongjun's accompanying cries was probably a contributing cause.

**"An ambulance has been notified of your location and is on its way."**

Hyeongjun was leaning over his aunt's face and wailing. His tears landed on her cheek, combining with her own tears of surrender. 

"No Auntie Ca! Don't sleep!" Jessica's eyelids were slowly falling and Hyeongjun desperately attempted to keep them up.

She'll try to stay awake, just to see the boys one last time.

~~~

_ **"May Hwang Seungyoun, Hwang Yohan, Hwang Eunsang, and Hwang Minhee please come to the office. Please bring your belongings. Thank you."** _

They were all gathered in front of the office with their bags five minutes later.

"Is school over already?" Yohan peered at the school clock.

"I don't think so." Seungyoun said.

"Is Auntie Sica coming?" Minhee clasped his hands in excitement. 

"Maybe she wants to take us to the amusement park!" Eunsang exclaimed.

"Maybe not Eunsang, she's been busy recently." They watched a police officer enter with Wooseok beside him.

"Hyung!" Minhee hugged his brother.

"Who are you?" Seungyoun gave the officer a suspicious look.

"I'm here to take you somewhere."

"Home?"

"Hyung do you know where?" They looked at Wooseok expectantly.

"I...I think it's best if you know when we get there. Let's go." His suspicions becoming clearer then ever, Wooseok hung his head dejectedly and led his brothers out of the school with the officer.

~~

"Isn't that baby adorable!" Seungyoun pointed at a baby being carried by what appeared to be his brother walking into the hospital.

"So cute! Wait, why are we at the hospital?" The officer parked his car.

"I hate to be the bringer of bad news. But you'll see it when we go in." Still confused, they followed him inside the building

They were led down a corridor on the second floor.

"Wait do you hear that?" They stopped for a second to listen to the faint sobs.

"It sounds like Hyeongjun."

"Here it is, I'll leave you guys alone." The officer left them at the doorway after opening it.

"Auntie Sica!" Jessica was lying in the hospital bed looking sickly. Her breaths were slow and her eyes looked at them sadly. Hyeongjun was crying but ran to his hyungs upon seeing them.

"Hyungs!" Hyeongjun was picked up by Wooseok and he patted his back. "What happened Hyeongjun?"

"N-nurse say Auntie Ca will d-die!"

"Die?!?" They were still trying to grasp the situation.

"I knew it." Wooseok walked up to her, "I knew something was wrong, why didn't you tell us!"

Jessica could only look at him sadly it seemed all her energy was disappearing. She lightly pointed a finger towards her chest. 

"Breast cancer?" Her head moved slightly but Wooseok knew it was a nod. "J-just why?" Wooseok didn't like the feeling of the tears prickling in his eyes, and the sound of his brothers mourning behind him brought back painful memories that he should've left behind two years ago. 

"S............orry......" Jessica took a deep breath, Wooseok watched her struggle, but he could tell she was gathering every ounce of energy she could for her final goodbye. 

"Minhee." He came up to her at the call of his name. She wrapped her frail arms around him, whispering _**I love you**_ into his ear before calling up the next one. She left out Wooseok.

After they were all done they held onto her desperately. But a person can only hug so much at a time, so Wooseok stood on the outside as he watched his aunt embrace his brothers. It seemed like it was going to be her final minute. 

She was slipping, Wooseok could feel it. 

But she took one more deep breath.

"Wooseok....." All his brothers made way for him. She brought him close and managed to whisper. **"Tell them to go out for a minute."**

"Can you guys leave for a minute?" He didn't want to see his brothers' crying worsen over the command but it was requested so it had to be done. He ushered them out with a promise that it'll be quick. He tried to ignore the sobs from outside the door and walked back to his aunt. 

"I wish... I wish I talked to your... mother." She was using all her power to form sentences. 

"I.... would've met these..... great nephews earlier........" She held onto his hands.

"Wooseok..." She looked up at him. 

"I'm ............sorry..... I can't stay........... forever." She brought him into an embrace.

"But I ....... hope...... what I left ............ will help............you."

"What did you leave?"

"Promise......... me...................." Wooseok could tell her final reserve of energy was almost depleted.

"You'll..................keep..................them..................happy..........." Her eyes were slowly closing.

"Auntie Sica!" He prayed she would last just a little bit longer.

"Wooseok................... I..................................................." the words died on her tongue as she went limp in Wooseok's arms. 

"I.. promise to keep them happy..." **They don't deserve this.** He slowly detached himself out of her hold. And opened the door for his brothers. He didn't want them to see him like this. 

So he ran out.

He didn't make it far before he accidentally crashed into a nurse. 

"Are you okay sweetie?" The nurse tried to help Wooseok off the ground. She looked at his tearful face, she cast a glance at the open door at the end of the hallway, and with a sympathetic yet knowing face, she called down the awaiting doctor. 

"I'm sorry," Wooseok said when he came back into the room, holding his brothers tight in his arms. 

"It isn't your fault." Seungyoun tried comforting him. 

"But you guys don't deserve this." 

"It was for the better. Remember what Umma always said?" 

"Everything happens for a reason?" 

"Yeah, that." Wooseok tried letting that phrase sink in.

"Is she really dead?" Eunsang looked up at Wooseok, hoping to see any glimpse of hope in his brother's eyes. Just something, any chance he could hold onto. But he was met with nothing, so he continued to cry into Seungyoun's chest. 

"Eunsang." Wooseok stroked his hair. He opened his mouth to say anything. But the words seemed to be caught up in his throat. He caught himself off guard when a sob escaped his own lips. He looked over at Seungyoun who had tears trickling down his face.

"Sorry to intrude." A middle-aged man holding a briefcase looked sorry interrupting them at the door. "You might be Wooseok?" He automatically locked eyes with the eldest. 

"Hello, My name is Mr. Lee, or you can call me Jinki. Can you follow me for a moment." Hesitantly, Wooseok left with the stranger, assuring his sorrowful brothers of a quick return. He was lead into an empty room.

"I'm sorry about what happened." Jinki motioned for Wooseok to sit at the table that was in the room. "Your aunt had been meeting with me a-lot."

"So it was you?" Wooseok always remembers Hyeongjun's stories of him being left with someone else because Jessica had to go somewhere. 

"Whatever you've heard, you are correct." Jinki pulled out a tablet from the briefcase he was holding. "Your aunt knew what was coming...... and she was well prepared."

"What do you mean?" 

"She left behind a will for you."

"Only for me?" 

"I'd assume it would be for all your brothers, but she decided to leave everything under your name." 

"What did she leave?'

"Here, she wanted to leave a video for you." Jinki set up the tablet and positioned it in front of Wooseok. "And this is also for you." He placed a manila folder beside the tablet. "Open it only when instructed in the video." Jinki headed to the door.

"I'll leave you alone for it, wouldn't want to ruin your privacy. I'll be back in a bit." Jinki left the room.

Wooseok studied the manila folder, it felt quite bulky but he wouldn't dare open it. However, the play button on the tablet was taunting Wooseok, daring him to press it. So he did.

**"Hi, Wooseok!"** Jessica's face appeared on the screen, a happy expression that Wooseok already missed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :( 
> 
> *sniff*
> 
> ANYWAYS
> 
> The next chapter will be the last part of the prologue O-o, so yes that does mean we will be in present time by the end of the prologue yay? 
> 
> If you didn't answer it before reading this chapter please answer the poll below! It's about who your favorite brother is in the story so far~ Things will happen after the prologue and I feel like opinions may change so yeah it's nice to see where the opinions lie right now. I feel like I gave you all a different reason to like each brother so I'm excited to see how things play out~~
> 
> Here's the link: https://linkto.run/p/G1VSEOQJ
> 
> See y'all soon~ <3


	10. Prologue Final Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A farewell to a tragic childhood and hello to new beginnings~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hesitate to vote on the poll before you start reading!  
https://linkto.run/p/G1VSEOQJ
> 
> Now enjoy~

"**If you're seeing this I'm really sorry.**" Wooseok could see the slight swelling and redness in Jessica's eyes, as if she retook the video many times due to crying.

**"You must've also met Jinki! He was adamant on telling you everything himself but I wanted to make this video. I just thought it would be nicer for you to see me.. one last time."** Jessica drew out the same manila folder from her side, Wooseok felt obliged to do the same.

**"If you pull out the first page from the stack of papers in this folder, you'll see I've left a will for you."** Wooseok glanced at the long page of writing.

**"And also you'll see many documents supporting my claims under that. Now we'll move on to the first part Wooseok."** Jessica removed a page from the stack.

**"Honestly it was very difficult to make this work due to the fact that you're only a minor, but you have no other relatives and I didn't want you guys to become separated."** Wooseok held his breath, he didn't want to lose his brothers.

**"It was even difficult for Jinki, but someone reached out. And I was able to have a judge in court rule that you are not required to be under a guardian and I was able to keep all of your brothers' under your name. So you are legally your brothers' guardian now but 2 things are still required. Here.**" Jessica showed a paper to the screen.

**"Someone 19 or older still has to check in with you every day, and you must also fill in a monthly form so that the government can keep track of you. I have someone set up to check in on you. He's one of my friends sons' and I see him as my own child personally. He just turned 20 a couple of months back so he'll be checking in on you. And Jinki will be able to help you fill in the forms."** Wooseok smiled at least they'll be able to stay together.

**"You may not know but your parents money was automatically transferred to me, and I am now transferring it over to you along with my assets. But it's been set up so that it's protected fully by the government and bank, you'll be getting a very small portion of it just to get by every month. If you need more for any circumstance you have to discuss it with Jinki. The total amount is listed there."** Wooseok curiously flipped through the papers until he found what was mentioned. 

"12 BILLION WON!?!?!" Wooseok dropped the document.

**"Yes I know it's a surprising amount, but I guess your parents handled their money very well."** Wooseok placed a hand over his heart, he was overwhelmed by the amount of money he was being left with. 

**"I also know your brothers miss the cafe, and you may be hoping to open one again." Wooseok thought back to the good times years ago, their parents cafe will always be kept in a special place in their hearts. "I do wish that you'll finish high school at least before you open one though, and you'll be an adult by then, if Jinki is still around by then he promised he'll help you with finding a place and obtaining a business license."** Jessica's eyes were flickering around the room, it seemed like she was running out of things to say. 

**"One more thing...... and I'll leave that as a surprise Wooseok."** Jessica smiled softly through the screen. 

**"I know you'll do a great job with your brothers, you'll do just fine. My place is yours unless you decide you want to move somewhere else. If your brothers do wind up sad one day remembering me or your parents, help them see the brighter light of day. I would be crushed to know that they're unhappy. Wooseok." **

**"Goodbye Wooseok, I love you and I promise I'll be watching over you."** The video flickered off, leaving Wooseok to bask in everything.

He gets to stay with his brothers, left with a money amount that people can only dream of, and a surprise? He doesn't know if the world is taunting him for all of his misfortunes or rewarding him for enduring through it all. 

"I see you've finished the video." Jinki appeared at the doorway again. "Don't worry I'll be handling most of it. Why don't you head back to your brothers now?" Jinki led Wooseok to the same room again. " And I'll be back at your place tonight to go over some final things." Jinki disappeared without a farewell. Leaving Wooseok with his brothers. The wails and sobs were mostly dissipated. The younger ones had reduced to hushed whimpers. A police officer was also standing in the room noting something down. 

"You're finished with that lawyer?" Wooseok nodded. "I think it's time for you guys to head back to your place then."

"But." Wooseok glanced back towards Jessica's body, only then noticing that there were other people in the room preparing to move it. "I guess it's time to move on." 

"Hyung we don't want to go yet." He ignored their protests, he had to be strong for them. "We have to go now guys, say your last g-goodbye." He bit down on the last word to prevent himself from crying again. He stepped out of the room to let his brothers' have a final farewell.

"Thanks for everything." He didn't look back.

~~~

Dinner was quiet that evening. Wooseok had attempted his aunt's kimchi stew in order to lift their spirits, but even he winced when he took his first sip when they were eating. It was good... but it was just missing something. The silence ensued, only the sound of chewing and slurping resonated until a knock on the door pierced their silence. Wooseok had opened it expecting Jinki, not another stranger.

"Hello, you must be Wooseok." The man was smiling warmly at Wooseok, only a warmth that could rival Jessica's smile. "I'm sure you've heard about me." 

"Are you the person that Auntie Sica mentioned?" He thought back to the video where she mentioned that someone around 19 would be checking in with them. 

"Yes I am. My name is Jisung." The man's hand unconsciously moved forward to pet Wooseok's hair, but retracted backwards in fear of gaining disapproval from the smaller. "Are you hungry Jisung-nim?" 

"Haha don't call me that, you'll make me feel old. How about hyung?"

"Uh okay hyung, are you hungry?" Jisung smiled in satisfaction.

"No, but can I meet your brothers?"

"Oh sure." Wooseok led him to the kitchen. "Guys this is Jisung hyung."

"Jisung hyung?"

"Yes, he'll be watching over us, but he won't be living with us?"

"No I won't, I already have two new handfuls to watch over at home." 

"Anyways this is Seungyoun, Yohan, Eunsang, Minhee, and Hyeongjun." He pointed at each of them. 

"Nice to meet you guys I hope that- Oh! I forgot. I have one more thing for you Wooseok." 

"The surprise?" 

"Oh, so you don't know? Perfect! Here come with me to the door." They walked back, this time all of his brothers were following curiously. Jisung poked his head out of the door and made a couple of arm signals. Closing it again and turning back to Wooseok. "Your aunt had wanted me to take care of two more people." Jisung swung the door open behind him. Wooseok couldn't believe his eyes. A pair of warm smiles greeted him.

"Wooseokie!" Seungwoo and Byungchan were standing right there, all flesh and blood. "We missed you!" They pulled Wooseok in for a hug." 

"But how?" Wooseok was flabbergasted.

"Jisung hyung adopted us!' Byungchan chirped happily. 

"Adopted?"

"I prefer you'd say that I became your legal guardian instead. Adoption makes me feel like I'm 20 years older." A small laugh escaped Jisung's lips. "But I do miss having a little brother." He ruffled their hair. 

"Isn't it great Wooseok? I missed you.." Seungwoo pulled Wooseok closer to his chest. 

"Yes, but you're *cough* suffocating me." The words vibrated against Seungwoo's chest.

"Sorry, Wooseok." He let him go hesitantly.

"Didn't you miss us hyung?" Byungchan questioned happily.

"Of course I did Byungchan, what happened to the phone calls?"

"Yoona noona had to change her phone and she lost your number." Seungwoo frowned at the past of being unable to hear Wooseok's voice.

"No Jinhyuk?" Wooseok frowned. 

"He didn't live in the orphanage."

"He didn't!?!?" Wooseok took a step back in shock.

"Oh, you didn't know? He just came to play with us. He has his own family but he moved to Seoul over 2 years ago."

"Really!" Wooseok grinned excitingly.

"Yeah, maybe we'll get to see him!" 

"I hope." Wooseok rubbed at the handkerchief in his back pocket, after Jinhyuk offered it to him that day, he'd never took it back and held on to it ever since.

"Well we have to stay here a little bit, Jinki told me to wait until he got here to help Wooseok." Jisung notified them.

"Let's play Wooseok!"

"Maybe in a bit Byungchan, we're still eating.." Wooseok trailed off and turned back towards his brothers' standing at the back. "Don't you remember these two?" 

"Well, I know I can't forget them." Seungyoun greeted them shyly. "They helped you before." 

"Who are they hyung?" Being younger, Minhee, Eunsang, and Hyeongjun had no idea who they were. 

"They're your hyungs' best friends." Seungwoo tried picking Minhee up but he ran in between Wooseok's legs. Hyeongjun followed him.

"Don't be shy guys."

"B-but he looks s-scary." Wooseok could feel him quivering against his leg. 

"I don't bite." Seungwoo knelt down but kept a reasonable distance, offering a warm smile to diminish their fearful thoughts. Hyeongjun ran from his spot and went up to Seungwoo, holding his arms up to be raised. Hyeongjun looked content being held by Seungwoo, giggling when Seungwoo gave his cheek a small peck. But Minhee and Eunsang were still a little cautious, favouring to stay closer to Byungchan when they went back to eat, Wooseok heating up some bread for them. 

It took a little while, but after Jinki had visited and left within the span of 2 hours, Minhee and Hyeongjun were enjoying Seungwoo's presence more. 

"We're going to go home guys." Jisung stood up from the chair he was seated on for the last 2 hours working with Wooseok and Jinki. 

"But do we have to leave," Byungchan whined. 

"Yes, it's late and we don't even have your rooms' set up! We can visit them tomorrow again." 

"Aww okay." They reluctantly walked to the door. 

"Bye Wooseok!" Seungwoo called out as they walked out. "And bye little ones!" He gave Wooseoks' younger brothers a wave. And with that, the door slam shut. Wooseok locked the door and turned to his brothers with a tired grin. 

"It's time for bed guys." He ignored their protests and grabbed Hyeongjun's hand, who was in the phase of enjoying bedtime. "Then I'll get Hyeongjun ready for bed, and you should all have brushed your teeth after that." And thankfully when Wooseok came back out, they all did. 

He tucked the younger one's in with a kiss, and climbed into his bed adjacent to Seungyoun's. Falling asleep somewhere in their random chatter.

When he woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of muffled sobs, a little piece of his heart broke.

It will be hard but he'll help his brothers' get over another of the unfortunate events that have plagued their innocent hearts...........

_ **~~~~~An unknown location in Seoul~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~** _

"Please, I need the money...." 

"Do you really want to do this?" The person let out a small nod. 

"Very well then, you may start tomorrow." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you so much for getting rid of them, they were threatening my political career." Jinhyuk flinched upon hearing the voice, there was no way his mother would do what he was thinking.

"Yes, a good shot through the brain will kill them, why? concerned about something." His mothers' evil laugh echoed down the quiet hallway. "Don't tell me you didn't actually kill one of my past requests?..... Good, because then I'd hate to see your own head rolling on the floor...... mhmmm....... You'll get the deposit soon........ yes after you kill them tomorrow, thank you." Jinhyuk heard his mother shut off the phone, followed by footsteps coming down the hall. Jinhyuk's eyes widened, he couldn't let her see him. He ducked behind a large house plant.

"Hmmm......" Taeyeon's feet stopped right behind Jinhyuk's hiding spot. "What shall I do today?" She pondered to herself.

"Oh! I'll take Joonmyeon on a day trip to Jeju Island! Mmmm and what should I do to that runt?" She took a few paces forward.

"I'll just make him deal with all the cafe deliveries. KIM Jinhyuk!" Jinhyuk gulped watching her leave the hallway. He'll just have to wait 5 more minutes to avoid suspicion.

It doesn't matter that she'll probably yell at him some more, the new knowledge of her dirty work was more important.

**~~~~6 YEARS LATER~~~~**

**"UMMA! APPA!" Wooseok lay helplessly on the ground as his arm desperately reached out for his parents as if he would be able to pull them back to him. **

**"Wooseok! IT'S OKAY!" **

**BANG!**

**Wooseok was finally able to get off the ground and ran to his father. Tears rolling down his face as he tried to shake him back to life. "You won't get away with this!" He ran to the group of men who were now trying to shove his mother into the van. **

**"Let her go!" The men laughed watching the child's attempts by tugging on his mother's leg and kicking at their's. **

**"Foolish kid, this should take care of you." The blunt side of a gun was smashed against the corner of Wooseok's head, sending him sprawling across the ground. One of them kicked the side of Wooseok's limp body for good measure before they got the mother into the car and drove away. **

**"Umma......" Wooseok reached out to the car racing away with his arm but he felt his mind going numb. The last thing he saw were his younger brothers still scared and huddled at the doorway before he blacked out.......................**

Wooseok shot out of bed with tears running down his face, he squinted at his clock

**2:30 am**

Wooseok rubbed his eyes as he walked to the bathroom. 

_**Just another bad dream**_ he thought to himself. 

He washed his eyes for a good minute until he felt another presence in the bathroom, he turned his head to see his youngest brother standing in the doorway, clutching his blanket. 

"Is Hyung okay?" Hyeongjun ditched his blanket and ran up to Wooseok, wrapping his arms around Wooseok's leg in an attempt to comfort him. Wooseok laughed lightly and held him up.

"Hyeongjun what did I say about getting up?" Hyeongjun frowned.

"You said no waking up early but I can't help it." Hyeongjun raised his arms in exasperation, Wooseok cringed slightly, he was gaining influence from Minhee. 

"It's okay, here, you can sleep with me." Wooseok walked back to bed with Hyeongjun in his arms. Smiling as Hyeongjun snuggled into his chest when he laid down. 

"I'll scare your bad dreams away hyung," Hyeongjun mumbled as he eventually dozed off. Wooseok's eyes eventually started to lid as well, he had to open up the cafe in a few hours so he needed every minute of rest he could get...........................

`

_ **BRRRRRINGGGGGGGG** _

Wooseok shoved the alarm clock off the table before it could annoy him any further. He winces as he hears a crack, glancing out of bed to see a nail roll across the floor. He lets out a huff, maybe he'll get Seungyoun to fix it later.......

He carefully laid Hyeongjun to the side and dragged himself into the kitchen to make breakfast. Finishing up the pancakes when he felt a tug at his leg. He frowned when he saw Hyeongjun looking up at him with big doe eyes.

"You should be sleeping Hyeongjun...." Wooseok sat down and rested Hyeongjun in his lap, his favourite position. "But hyung is always working hard so Hyeongjun wants to help" His youngest brother pouted.

"You can help hyung open the store after he makes breakfast." Wooseok finished up breakfast while Hyeongjun coiled himself around his leg the entire time. Wooseok laughed to himself. He wonders if Hyeongjun will stay this clingy when he finally hits puberty.

He watched Hyeongjun eat his cereal as he ate a couple of pancakes, he always enjoyed their peaceful 6am rituals. But he may have to lecture Hyeongjun about waking up too early.

He entered all of his brother's rooms to make sure their alarms were set for at least 7 am, and walked into the building adjacent to where the cafe was. Falling for his aegyo, Wooseok let Hyeongjun come with him to the cafe at such an early time.

"Good morning Jisung hyung?" Wooseok was confused upon not seeing Jisung usually setting up the cafe at this time in the morning. 

"No hyung?" Even Hyeongjun was confused upon not seeing one of his favourite hyungs.

"Maybe he just slept in, how about you help me set up before I open the cafe?" Wooseok took out a rack of plates that were to be arranged in the display case.

"Yes!" Hyeongjun happily took the box to the display case and started arranging the plates by memory, where the baked goods would be placed later. 

"Hmmm, they both can't be sleeping in..." Wooseok poked his head into the kitchen and broke into a wide grin. 

"Byungchan!" He hugged the younger as a daily routine. 

"Watch it you're going to ruin the cake." Wooseok laughed off his comment, he was always a little cranky in the morning, but it was his fault for volunteering to come to the cafe at 5 am just to bake the food. 

"Where's Jisung hyung?" Wooseok sneakily poked a finger out at the icing on one of the cakes, Byungchan rolled his eyes and pretended not to notice.

"He didn't call you? He's sick." Wooseok looked back at him shocked.

"Really? He never gets sick." 

"Eh well, he's not invincible. Maybe just a common cold."

"If you say so, what are you holding there?" Wooseok noted the envelope in Byungchan's hands. 

"It's another letter from Seungwoo for you." Seungwoo had left to study abroad a year ago and continuously sent letters for Wooseok while he was away. 

"Oh, thanks." Wooseok took the letter and opened it with a smile. He let out a light laugh reading the contents, Seungwoo wrote about another story of the weird things Americans do. 

"Hyung I'm done!" Hyeongjun's voice came from the front, Wooseok excused himself after promising to make Byungchan a latte and went to Hyeongjun.

"Wow! Perfect as always!" Wooseok placed a kiss on Hyeongjun's head. He smiled watching Hyeongjun take the chocolate off of his head graciously. "Eat that later Hyeongjun."

"I will hyung, can I watch TV?" The TV in the cafe only served for entertainment purposes when Eunsang or any other performer couldn't perform.

"Sure Hyeongjun, but make sure you flip to channel 78 when I open the cafe so that the customers can watch that new drama."

'Okay hyung!" Hyeongjun turned on the TV, allowing Wooseok to turn back the counter to start prepping ingredients in case it was another busy day at the cafe. While he prepared Byungchan's latte a particular interview caught his attention. Hyeongjun who was flipping through the channels must've gotten intrigued by it and stopped on it.

**"Mrs. Kim! The mayoral election is coming up in a few months, how does it feel to be selected as one of the rare female candidates?"** The said person turned around to the camera, causing Wooseok to almost drop the latte. 

There, shining in all her evil glory, was Kim Taeyeon.

"**It feels great Gunhee! I have never felt so honoured before!"** A proud smile was displayed on the screen, but Wooseok could only imagine all the things she did to get there.

**"You are the only candidate to be revealed to the public so far, do you have any info on the other contenders to spill?" **

**"I wish I did, they're as hidden to me as the public.'**

'**Awww that's no fun."** Gunhee frowned at the idea of not knowing potentially juicy gossip.

"**But I can assure you Gunhee, that I'll make history as the first female mayor of Seoul!"**

**"Wow confidence! A great quality for a leader in our country. Don't you think so Hwanwoong?**" The screen shook for a second, most likely the cameraman.

**"I'm sorry Gunhee that's all the time I have."** The reporter threw his hands up dramatically. 

**"Already? Darn, I was enjoying this, thank you Mrs.Kim."** He gave her a friendly wave as she disappeared off the camera. 

**"Don't forget to check out one of Kim Taeyeon's cafes! With over 20 locations in Seoul, I'm sure it won't be easy to miss."** The screen cut out to an advertisement playing for the Kim Cafe,

Wooseok could only stare at it in disbelief. He hated how rich she'd become. It was his parents that deserved that fame and fortune, not a backstabber. And she's got to be put in a position of high power? The thought disgusted Wooseok.

"Are you okay? Hey, watch my latte! You're spilling it all over the counter!" Byungchan sighed and swiped the half-empty cup out of Wooseok's hands, ignoring the puddle on the counter and walked back to the back. He had completely missed the dark void that had fallen around Wooseok's face.

"Hyung are you okay?" Hyeongjun turned back to Wooseok, noticing his shaky hands.

"I-i'm fine S-Hyeongjun, I just n-need some air." Almost stumbling over Yohan's mic stand on the way out, he barely made it outside without breaking anything in frustration. He noticed a poster advertisement with Taeyeon's face plastered on a nearby building.

"You..." Wooseok grabbed the poster and tore it up. Ignoring the looks of a passerby when he slammed it into a nearby bin harshly.

"You'll be sorry......" A million plans of revenge ran through his mind. But he couldn't let his brothers get involved.

So he'll put it on the back burner just for now. 

He walked back to his cafe after 10 minutes of calming down, turned the Now Open sign on the door, and greeted the first customer that walked into the cafe. 

"Welcome to the Hwang cafe!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes the prologue, so we are now in present-day yay :)
> 
> Since I don't have everything laid out exactly, I need some to plan lmao.
> 
> But I will still update, I have a nice little bonus chapter planned and I'll probably throw in a teaser for the next part too.
> 
> Thanks to the people who've stuck with me for so long. Honestly, whenever I try to start a story I usually don't make it past the third chapter so this is a huge accomplishment!
> 
> And I do know this story was getting boring so I hope the second part will be more exciting and interesting to all! 
> 
> Also, since the prologue is over please vote on the poll!  
https://linkto.run/p/G1VSEOQJ 
> 
> I'll see you all soon~


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